José Aníbal Aguirre, the CEO of the Gaming & Technology GAT Expo events for 23 years, comments: “Colombia ranks first in Latin America in regulatory development regarding games of chance and in State collection figures for legal gaming, as it is demonstrated by the Coljuegos numbers for the first half of 2022. Hence the transcendence of GAT Showcase Bogotá, which defines investments and businesses in the last quarter of the year.”
The figures presented by Coljuegos show a 59 percent growth in sales of the various verticals in the sector, compared to the same period in 2021, according to the entity's president, César Augusto Valencia: "Internet-operated games closed in 2020 a sum close to $8 billion pesos (US$ 1.85m), doubled in 2021 and in the first half of 2022 bets were reported for $11 billion pesos (US$ 2.52m), so it is estimated that the figure can reach $20 billion (US$ 4.6m), driven by the FIFA World Cup to be played between November and December.”
Currently, there are 383 companies that operate legally in Colombia in 3,116 establishments and a number of 96,076 slot machines (METs), authorized to operate by the Colombian government, as well as 17 internet betting platforms.
This growth and the regulatory aspect are an important attraction for foreign investors, which is why it is expected to far exceed the number of visitors achieved in 2021 to GAT Showcase, and the exhibiting brands in 2022 double those of the previous year. The list of exhibitors includes: Novomatic Latam, Merkur Gaming, EGT, Win Systems , IGT, BetConstruct, Pragmatic Play, Interblock, GLI, Alfastreet, Aruze, Aristocrat, JVL, Digitain, Mobadoo, Metamap, Copag, America Simulcast, Cockpit Gaming, Trebol Carpet, RCFC Legal, Radio Marcas, RPCol and Sadekya, igaming consultant from Curaçao.
The sponsors of this year's edition will be BetConstruct, Pragmatic Play, Altenar, Metamap and Betplay. Five days before the event, the organizers report that more than 850 invited businessmen have already confirmed attendance.
The guilds that bring together the main legal gaming businessmen in the country, Asojuegos, Cornazar and Fecoljuegos, will be present at GAT Showcase Bogotá with their associates and federates.
Betplay Colombia has taken on the sponsorship of one of the novelties for this year, such as the ESports Betting Bar area, which will be animated by simulations and demonstrations of this revolutionary line of entertainment with players and casters, which will be provided by the Colombian Sports Federation Electronics, Fedecolde. Also, there will be an exhibition of the Mobadoo eSports betting software, which some of the online betting operators in Colombia, led by Betplay, are currently integrating into their portfolios.
It will be an intense day of exhibition and business for Colombian operators and foreign companies with operations or projects in the region, in which the organizers will launch Gaming & Technology Expo 2023, the large-format fair that will take place held again in Cartagena, on March 29 and 30.
More information at www.gatexpo.net.
Source: GMB
