Paraguay is looking for an operator to partner with the country to offer sports betting. Government gaming regulator Corajzan has put out a call for candidates to become an exclusive provider of sports betting in the country.
Corajzan will restrict the number of finalist candidates, which will be announced on October 31. Interested groups must be willing to pay a license fee of 60 million guaraníes, about US$8,700, to the national treasury. The company would also need to commit to building an office and establishing some sort of root in the capital of Asunción.
The announcement follows recent efforts by Corajzan to limit and crack down on offshore gambling operators in the country. There has also been a recent push to limit the expansion of slot machines. Paraguay legalized gambling in 1996 and expanded the scope of the law, Lei-1016, in 2015.
Prior to this recent tender, Corajzan had a similar agreement with Daruma Sam, who operated the Aposta.la brand in Paraguay. The company and Corajzan agreed to terms in 2018, but the company was never able to generate many results. In addition, the company was accused of money laundering last year.
Daruma Sam’s owner Marco Trovato once served as the president of the country’s national football team. He received sanctions and was effectively banned from the sport in 2020.
The numbers that Paraguay generated with the games and sports betting
Last month, the National Gaming Council of Paraguay (Conajzar), the country’s gaming regulatory body, reported the results of betting games in the first half of 2022, where it raised 69.404 million guaraníes, about US$10.1 million.
In the report released by the Paraguayan media 5Días, the entity detailed that the game of pool contributed with 48,848 million guaranis, about US$ 7.1 million, representing 70.4% of the total value.
Casinos contributed with 6,808 million guaranis (US$ 990 thousand), corresponding to 9.8% of the total; and sports betting, 5,442 million guaranis (US$ 791 thousand), 7.8%. Telebingos raised 4,244 million guaranis (US$ 617 thousand), 6.1%, and online games, 1,556 million guaranis (US$ 226 thousand), reaching 2.2% of the total.
