Provincial licensing, applied for separately in each jurisdiction
Argentina
There is no national licence: each province and the City of Buenos Aires regulate separately.
Partly restricted online casino
Mexico
A large market with no modern online statute: operators work through holders of permits issued under 1947 legislation.
| Product | Position | What that means |
|---|---|---|
| Online casino | Partly restricted | Licensed in part only, or licensed subject to limits that exclude part of the usual product. |
| Sports betting | Partly restricted | Licensed in part only, or licensed subject to limits that exclude part of the usual product. |
| Online poker | Partly restricted | Licensed in part only, or licensed subject to limits that exclude part of the usual product. |
| Lottery | State monopoly | Reserved to a state or state-controlled operator; no commercial licence is available. |
How the market works
Mexico authorises gambling under a 1947 federal law and its 2004 regulations, with online activity permitted as an annex to a permit originally designed for land-based venues and draws. There is no online licence to apply for in the usual sense, so an international operator enters by partnering with, or acquiring an interest in, a Mexican permit holder.
That structure makes Mexico one of the largest Latin American markets and also one of the least transparent. Permit terms are not uniform, the permit list changes through administrative decisions rather than published licensing rounds, and the legal basis for online operation rests on interpretation of regulations written before the online market existed.
Reform bills to replace the 1947 law have been introduced repeatedly without being carried through. The planning assumption for Mexico therefore remains a partnership with an existing permit holder rather than a direct application.
Who regulates it
Secretaría de Gobernación, Dirección General de Juegos y Sorteos (SEGOB), based in Mexico City and operating under Federal Law on Games and Draws 1947. The Mexican interior ministry, which authorises online gambling as an extension of permits granted under 1947 legislation.
Licence types issued
- Permit for games and draws, with online activity authorised as an annex
Questions about Mexico
Other markets in Latin America
Authorisation per operator, limited brands per authorisation
Brazil
The largest market to move from unlicensed to licensed in recent years, with betting and casino under one authorisation.
Licensed online casino
Concession to operate a state monopoly activity
Colombia
The first Latin American country to licence online gambling nationally, and the regional template.
Licensed online casino
Authorisation by the gaming directorate
Peru
A quick, comparatively low-cost licensing regime that became a common first step into the region.
Licensed online casino
Background reading
Legal and compliance
What a gaming licence actually covers
A licence is not a badge of quality and it is not valid everywhere. What it authorises, who it binds, and why one company often holds a dozen.
Legal and compliance
How gambling is taxed, and why the base matters
A tax on stakes and a tax on gross gaming revenue can carry the same headline number and produce completely different businesses.
Legal and compliance
How a company enters a new market
The sequence from legal assessment to launch, and the parts that routinely take longer than anyone plans for.
Legal and compliance
What grey and black markets actually mean
The industry uses three words for the legal status of a market and rarely defines them. Here is what each one means in practice.