Mexico finalizes a new Gaming and Lotteries Law
Segob stated that the reform is in its final review stage and aims to replace a legal framework that has been in effect since 1947.
Mexico lists 40 gaming venues in the iGaming.bet B2B directory, across 25 cities. Cities with the highest concentration of venues: Mexico City (7), Cancún (3), Guadalajara (3), Monterrey (3), Hermosillo (2).
Among the most popular casinos in Mexico are: Big Bola Casino Veracruz - Boca del Río (Boca del Río), Caliente Casino Ensenada Hotel San Nicolás (Ensenada), Caliente Casino Agua Caliente (Tijuana), PlayCity Casino Durango (Durango), Twin Lions Casino (Guadalajara), Caliente Casino Mexicali Benito Juárez (Mexicali), Casino Life Mérida (Mérida), Casino Codere Arboledas (Guadalajara), Providens Casino (Guadalajara), Big Bola Casino León (León).
Mexico has a gaming history marked by decades of prohibition and a late and partial legalization. Casino games were prohibited for more than 60 years under the Federal Law on Games and Lotteries of 1947, which only allowed betting at horse racing, greyhound racing and jai alai. The opening came with the 2004 regulatory reform, when the federal government authorized Remote Betting Centers and Number Drawing Halls, popularly known as casinos, in a legal figure that remains subject to legal debate as it is not strictly a table game casino but a sports betting and entertainment machine hall. This legal ambiguity explains why Mexican casinos operate under a different model from the rest of Latin America and why the sector has historically been vulnerable to closures due to political pressure or legal reinterpretations.
In Mexico, gaming is regulated at the federal level by the Ministry of the Interior (SEGOB) through the Directorate General of Games and Lotteries, which issues federal operating licenses under the Federal Law on Games and Lotteries and its current Regulations. States and municipalities have no jurisdiction to regulate gaming, making Mexico one of the few Latin American countries with regulation centralized in the federal government. Licenses are of two main types: Number Drawing Hall (electronic roulette, slot machines) and Remote Betting Center (live sports betting).
Mexico City has the highest casino concentration in the country, with establishments in Polanco, Santa Fe, Pedregal, Satelite and the Insurgentes corridor neighborhoods. Monterrey, the northern industrial capital, has in the San Pedro Garza García and Monterrey corridor the highest socioeconomic level casinos. Guadalajara has its gaming hub in the Valle de Atemajac Metropolitan Zone. Cancún is the highest international tourist traffic gaming market, with Hotel Zone casinos serving the millions of American and Canadian tourists visiting the Riviera Maya. Tijuana has the most active border gaming market in the country, serving Southern California tourism crossing to Mexico to play.
The dominant groups in the Mexican market are Caliente Interactive, Mexico largest sports betting and gaming operator with nationwide presence; PlayCity, operated by US group Station Casinos with more than 60 establishments; Casino Palace; and the Hollywood Casino chain from PENN Entertainment with presence in Mexico City and other cities. The Mexican gaming market is Latin America highest by number of establishments but operates in a legal framework that prevents the installation of table game casinos at the scale of Las Vegas or Punta del Este.
Segob stated that the reform is in its final review stage and aims to replace a legal framework that has been in effect since 1947.
Segob has concluded the internal review of the reform and is sending it to the Security Cabinet. Rosa Icela Rodríguez stated that approximately 20 casinos were closed due to money laundering.
The operation brought together the army, state and metropolitan police and municipal inspectors. The machines were handed to the federal prosecutor.
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