Chapter 2: Market overviews
2.2.2 South America
Major online betting operators, South America
Market
Operators
South America
SBOBet, Betboo, Betsson, 888, Miapuesta (Sportingbet)
SNAPSHOT South America
Largest population
Brazil
Largest income (by av income/PPP)
Argentina
Largest GDP
Brazil
Best economic outlook
Brazil
Highest TV households (% penetration)
Colombia
Highest broadband penetration (by number of users)
Brazil
Highest mobile penetration (per 100 inhabitants)
Argentina
Biggest gambling market (by value)
Costa Rica
In 1949, the anthropologist John Cooper provided an overview of the prevalence of games and
gambling among indigenous Latin Americans. In pre-colonial times, gambling was primarily limited to
two areas in the west: one in present‐day Peru and Ecuador, and the other farther south in the
Araucanian region (in present‐day central Chile), among the Picunche, Mapuche, and Huilliche
peoples. In addition, gambling is documented only among a few scattered peoples in the north;
Cooper mentioned the Otomac (in Venezuela) and the Chibcha (in Colombia), but there might have
been a few other peoples in this area who bet on rubber ball games. On the Caribbean islands,
gambling, in the form of betting on ball games, was present among the Taino of Hispaniola. Cooper
concluded, concerning the relatively few Latin American peoples who gambled, that: “All these
peoples, except perhaps the Mapuche‐Huilliche and Otomac, took their gambling gains very lightly.”
Looking at modern Latin America, the region has 33 countries with a total population of around 590
million that dedicates a large proportion of its income to gaming and gambling. Land-based gaming
and gambling activities have traditionally been closely linked to the tourism industry and Latin
America is a region that continues to successfully attract tourists every year.
The Latin American gambling industry has grown consistently over the last 10 years and if regulatory
issues are resolved in the major markets there is serious potential in such a vast region. Evaluating the
exact value of the igaming sector is difficult because it is largely unregulated at the moment, but H2
Gambling Capital forecasts that it could reach €900m by 2020.
Increased access to broadband has been one of the key factors behind the region’s growth in gaming
although there remain wide differences in broadband use among countries. While some countries
including Uruguay, Chile, Argentina and Mexico have fixed broadband penetration ranging between
11% and 30%, others countries, including Haiti, Paraguay, Nicaragua and Cuba have particularly
low penetration. Generally, higher broadband penetration can be found in the southern countries
while the lower rates are prevalent in Central America and in the poorer countries on the northwest
coast and interior of South America. The region still suffers from insufficient bandwidth (leading to
expensive and slow services), though a number of new cables, particularly from landings in Brazil, will
improve the situation during the next few years.
Digital Sports Betting 31