Buenos Aires Consider Online Gambling Launch For Last Quarter Of 2020

Online gambling seems to be a hot topic this week in Argentina, as the Buenos Aires lottery has announced comprehensive plans to open an application process for online gaming operators.

Comprehensive Plans In Place

This Thursday, Loteria de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires /LOTBA/,  the agency that is overseeing all gambling-related activities in the city of Buenos Aires, released a report stating its plans to introduce online sports betting and casino operations on the territory of the autonomous city by setting criteria for selecting online gambling companies.

Some Retrospection

Back in 2018, after initially the province of Buenos Aires, a separate entity form the city, authorized the provision of gaming services on its territory by approving Decree 181, a change on the political scene put all plans for the introduction of online gambling operations on hold later on, but this time around the plan released by LOTBA might actually succeed.

Q4 Target For Live Operations

LOTBA expects to complete the selection process and be able to have live regulated gaming activities somewhere in the fourth quarter of the year, with any license for operations being valid only within the confines of the city.

Online operators will be able to introduce a wide variety of games and gambling activities, from sports betting, virtual sports and non-sports betting, slots, roulette, black jack, poker, punto blanco and different lottery games.

Set Of Requirements

The plans of the lottery include unlimited number of online gambling operators, referred to as Online Gaming Agencies, as long as each one of them meets LOTBA requirements.

One of the predefined conditions for an online operator to apply for a license is that it must have at least 2 years of experience in the online gambling industry and annual revenue in excess of $1.5 million, with net worth not less than $25 million.

Licenses LOTBA will issue will be valid for 5 years of operations, with the option for an extension for another 5, will cost an application fee of $30,000 paid upfront, followed by $100,000 per year in case of approval, plus 10% of the company’s revenue from the gaming activities.

There will be an initial $2 million dollar deposit as a Guarantee of Compliance, but the sum will be reduced in half after the operator gets its technical certification report accredited.

Regarding clients’ money, Online Gaming Agencies will be obliged to keep customer funds in a city bank account that is separate from their operational accounts, and will be controlled by the lottery agency.

High Expectations

The city of Buenos Aires lottery agency is determined to have live online gambling activities within the city by the start of the last quarter of the year.