Online Gaming Licensing in Latin America 2026: Beyond B...

Brazil's regulated betting market grabbed the headlines in 2025. But the rest of Latin America has been building, improvising, or ignoring online gaming regulation for years. Colombia was first, launching a proper licensing framework in 2016. Argentina has regulated province by province until 23 of 24 jurisdictions now have online gambling rules. Peru approved 60 technology platforms in under two years. Mexico co-hosts the 2026 FIFA World Cup while operating under a gambling law written in 1947. The region's approach to iGaming licensing is as fragmented as its politics.

Colombia: ten years in and still tightening

Coljuegos, Colombia's gaming regulator, issued Latin America's first online gambling licenses under the 2016 eGaming Act (consolidated by Acuerdo 8/2020). The framework offers a single B2C license type valid for five years. No B2B licenses exist, which means platform providers must work through licensed operators rather than holding their own permits.

Sixteen platforms are fully authorized as of 2024, serving 9.5 million unique users. GGR tax sits at 17%, dropping to 15% if the operator maintains a return-to-player ratio of 83% or higher. The market is projected to reach USD 806 million in GGR by 2026, up from USD 312 million.

The tax situation got messy in 2025. A February decree imposed 19% VAT on player deposits, which the industry fought until the government reversed course in December, applying the 19% to net gambling revenue instead starting January 2026. The distinction matters: taxing deposits hits volume; taxing net revenue hits profit. Coljuegos simultaneously blocked over 10,000 illegal gambling websites and social media profiles, a sign that the unlicensed market remains substantial despite a decade of regulation.

Argentina: every province for itself

Argentina has no federal online gambling license. Each of its 24 jurisdictions regulates independently, and as of 2026, 23 have done so (only Santiago del Estero has not). Fourteen jurisdictions have what could be called solid online betting regimes. The rest range from minimal frameworks to rules that exist on paper but lack enforcement infrastructure.

Federal tax on gambling revenue is 5%. Provincial GGR taxes vary dramatically: 25% in Buenos Aires Province, 10% in Cordoba. All operators must use biometric verification through RENAPER, the national identity database, and legal sites operate under the .bet.ar domain. Buenos Aires Province's 2026 Resolution N 17 enables physical betting agencies to serve as player registration channels, blurring the line between online and land-based distribution.

The fragmentation creates real costs for operators. Licensing in Buenos Aires Province does not permit operations in Cordoba or Mendoza. A multi-province strategy requires separate applications, separate compliance teams, and separate relationships with provincial regulators who may have contradictory requirements. An estimated 4.6 million Argentines bet online, generating roughly USD 1.57 billion in revenue across all provinces.

Peru: the quiet third mover

Peru passed Law No. 31557 in 2022, creating a framework for online gambling and sports betting administered by MINCETUR (the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Tourism). Since February 2024, MINCETUR has approved 60 technology platforms and 280 service providers. The market is worth an estimated S/3.8 billion (roughly USD 2.3 billion), with a player base of 5 million.

GGR tax starts at 12%, effectively around 10% after allowed deductions. But Peru added a turnover-based tax in January 2025: 0.3% ISC (selective consumption tax) on each online bet, raised to 1% of turnover from July 2025. Turnover taxes are blunt instruments that hit high-volume, low-margin operators hardest and tend to push recreational bettors toward unlicensed platforms where no such levy applies.

Penalties for unlicensed operation include fines up to S/990,000 (approximately USD 60,000) and up to four years imprisonment. Whether MINCETUR has the enforcement capacity to make those penalties meaningful across a country of 34 million people is untested.

Mexico: World Cup host, 1947 gambling law

Mexico co-hosts the 2026 FIFA World Cup while regulating gambling under a law enacted in 1947. Licenses are issued exclusively to domestic operators through the Ministry of Interior. The government has discussed a federal gambling regulation reform through 2025 and into 2026, but no bill has been enacted.

AML enforcement has picked up. In 2025, authorities blocked 13 casino and betting platforms, including bet365 and Betano, for operating without proper authorization. The IEPS special excise tax on gambling was raised to 50%, among the highest in the world. Annual turnover exceeds USD 10 billion from an estimated 80 million user base, most of it flowing through platforms operating without federal licenses.

The World Cup creates political pressure to modernize. Whether that translates into legislation before June 2026 is anyone's guess. Chile, for comparison, has had an online gambling bill pending since 2022 and has not moved it forward despite Supreme Court orders to block illegal sites.

The Latin American online gambling market is projected to reach USD 12 billion in GGR by 2028. Operators targeting the region need country-specific strategies, country-specific legal counsel, and realistic expectations about enforcement timelines. The regulatory fragmentation is not a bug that will be fixed. It is the feature.