Colombian gambling regulator Coljuegos granted a first iGaming license, thus formally opening the country’s regulated iGaming market. Locally owned gaming company Aquila Global Group was the one to be authorized by the regulatory body. The operator is running the Wplay.co online sports betting brand.
Aquila Global is planning to invest around COP15 billion (approximately $5 million) in its online gambling platform for the next three years. It also expects its operation to generate over 3,000 indirect and direct jobs and to attract more than 1 million registered gambling customers during the license’s term.
It was last October when the Colombian government and Coljuegos introduced the country’s new iGaming regulatory framework. Colombia thus became the first Latin American jurisdiction to have regulated its market and opened it to licensed operations.
Coljuegos believes the market could generate around COP8 billion in revenue during its first year and that it has the potential to grow further in years to come. More iGaming licenses are to be issued in this year’s second half. Under Coljuegos’ announced plans, there will be at least seven licensed operators to be servicing local players by the end of of 2017.
Wplay.co being granted the necessary license came at a time when the regulator is gearing up for the planned blocking of 325 unlicensed iGaming websites targeting Colombians. Earlier this year, Coljuegos prepared a blacklist of such websites, warning that those will gradually be blocked by Colombian Internet service providers. The process is set to begin today, June 30.
IP blocking has been deployed by other newly regulated jurisdictions around the world, but has not proved very effective anywhere. Commenting on their decision to block unauthorized websites, Coljuegos President Juan B. Pérez Hidalgo has told media that they are well-aware of the fact that fighting black-market operations is a challenging task. Yet, the official explained that they will be working closely with the country’s National Police and the Ministry of Defense to tackle the issue.
Colombia and Latin America, as a whole, have been targeted by major industry players due to the potential the region holds. Studies from recent years have shown that demand for online gambling services has been big in that part of the world. As a result from this, the number of both gambling operators and service providers interested to invest in local markets has grown rapidly.
This has led to multiple jurisdictions dwelling on the possibility to legalize online gambling and open their markets for licensed operations. With Colombia paving the way, Brazil and Mexico, among several others, may very soon follow suit and tune their existing gambling laws to contemporary demand.
