Gambling
Leveling Up in Mexico: Esports and Online Gambling Regulations
The rise of popularity of esports gambling and the regulations of online gambling in Mexico has led to several legal questions that this article addresses.
The Rise of Esports and Online Gambling
In recent years, esports and online gambling have been two rapidly growing industries in Mexico. The rise of new esports leagues and teams as well as the hosting of various gaming events in the country has generated over 50 million gamers that spend over USD 1 billion yearly1, making it the leading country in this industry in the Latin American region. At the same time, online betting sites are quickly growing in popularity, moving USD 2 billion each year, according to Forbes2, of which a large part comes from sports betting. With the great growth of the gaming industry, it is becoming more and more popular among Mexicans to bet on esports events.
Online Gambling Regulations
First, it is important to understand that gambling in Mexico is a federally regulated matter regulated by the Ministry of Interior (Secretaría de Gobernación) (SEGOB), through the Gambling and Raffles Bureau (Dirección General de Juegos y Sorteos) and the Federal Gambling and Raffles Law. Although this body and this law grant permission to operate gambling houses and regulate the main aspects of betting, this law is often ambiguous and does not properly regulate many betting activities. Due to this ambiguity, there is confusion regarding who has permission to operate online gambling activities, which is why SEGOB took a position in favor of the expansion of online gambling by issuing more inclusive permits for this activity.
Although online betting is currently not specifically regulated, articles 83 and 85 of the Federal Gambling and Raffles Law establish the way in which betting houses can receive remote bets through the Internet, telephone, or electronically, mentioning that the account number and identity of the bettor, as well as the date, time, transaction number, amount and requested selection, must be recorded. In addition, the mechanism used to capture bets must have been previously approved by the Gambling and Raffles Bureau. As well as mentioning that bets must be captured in remote betting centers in order to corroborate the date, time and bet result.
For other matters such as prohibitions, restrictions, taxes and the anti-money laundering law, the same applies to online gambling and land-based gambling. Another important point to take into account is that, currently, the use of blockchain technology to place bets online is prohibited since only financial technology institutions are authorized to make transactions with digital currencies.
Conclusion
The popularity of online betting has grown a lot initially due to sports betting, and it was only a matter of time before the world of esports was introduced to online betting. Currently, the main online betting sites allow bets on different leagues of games such as CS:GO, League of Legends, Overwatch, COD or the eLiga MX (the esports tournament of the Mexican soccer league).
Moreover, there are already proposals for more rigid regulations to advertise online casinos and betting houses due to their growth in popularity, especially among young users. It is also expected that more specific regulations for online betting will be proposed in the near future.
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- Lagos, A. (2022) México Encabeza el consumo de videojuegos en américa latina, El País México. Available at: https://elpais.com/mexico/2022-08-31/mexico-encabeza-el-consumo-de-videojuegos-en-america-latina.html . ↩︎
- Pérez, I. (2019) Apuestas online, la Nueva Mina de Oro Digital, Forbes México. Available at: https://www.forbes.com.mx/apuestas-online-la-nueva-mina-de-oro-digital/#:~:text=en%20el%20pa%C3%ADs.-,En%20México%2C%20las%20apuestas%20y%20casinos%20online%20(tanto%20legales%20como,amigos%20y%20compañeros%20de%20oficina. ↩︎
