On Tuesday, November 15th, the Chamber of Deputies of Chile rejected the request of the Economy Commission for the Promotion of Micro, Medium and Small Companies to refer them to study the bill that prohibits the presence of advertising by online bookmakers on sporting events and clubs.
With this decision, the bill – which entered the House in March of this year – will likely be ready to be voted on next week. It is worth remembering that the scenario of online sports betting sites in Chile is not yet regulated, therefore there are sectors that consider the activity illegal, since they are not domiciled in Chilean territory, they are not supervised by Sernac (National Consumer Service) and their contribution tax is difficult to determine, despite the fact that they bring in an estimated $170 million annually.
Bookmakers sponsor clubs and the Chilean football team
These companies currently sponsor 15 professional clubs; and one of them is even an Official Sponsor of the Primera B tournament and the Chilean National Team, despite the fact that its operation has been declared illegal by the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Sports.
It is important to note that the Superintendence of Casinos and Games (SCJ) sent, between 2018 and the present moment, about thirty complaints or presentations to the Public Ministry, and in May 2021 it sent an official letter to the Council for Self-Regulation and Advertising Ethics ( Conar) and the ANFP, informing both entities about the illegal nature of the exploitation of online betting in Chile.
The picture becomes even more confusing after what happened in September 2022, when the Seventh Court of Assurance of Santiago admitted a criminal complaint by the Foundation of Players in Pathological Gambling Therapy against eight online sports betting houses, which were accused “as perpetrators of the crime of exploitation and illegal operation of gambling”.
