4,500+
The emergence of online gambling, combined with the severe economic recession, has raised alarms in one of the country’s most traditional sectors. According to a recent report by IProfesional, more than 4,500 lottery agencies in the province of Buenos Aires are going through a critical situation and could close their doors if urgent support and restructuring measures are not implemented.
The concern reached such a magnitude that 200 agencies in the City of Buenos Aires requested an emergency meeting with the head of government, Jorge Macri. They were received by the chief of staff, Gabriel Sánchez Zinny, where the president of the Chamber of Official Lottery Agencies of Buenos Aires (CAOLBA), Marcelo Iemma, presented an alarming outlook: in 2024 alone, more than 200 agencies closed, a collapse unprecedented in the 130 years of history of the sector.
Claims, costs, and exclusion from the online ecosystem
During the meeting, Iemma explained that numerous agency owners have had to request licenses to temporarily suspend their activity, unable to cover operational costs. As a survival proposal, he suggested that official agencies be incorporated as part of the online gambling chain, considering that “policies that prevented the sector’s modernization” left them out of a market that today concentrates growth.
The head of CAOLBA also defended the role of agencies in the prevention of underage gambling, a growing problem in Argentina. “We are the only ones who can guarantee that credit loading on online platforms is not done by minors,” he reportedly stated.
Additional requests include a review of the Gross Income tax and the possibility of obtaining the MiPyME certificate, requested from ARCA, with the support of the Minister of Economic Development of CABA, Hernán Lombardi.
A crisis that also hits the interior
The situation is not exclusive to the capital. Throughout the province of Buenos Aires, it is estimated that 4,500 agencies are at risk, after a 2024 that ended with more than 150 establishments closing their shutters, and with 2025 on track to repeat the trend.
Agencies have requested from Governor Axel Kicillof the authorization of VLT (Video Lottery Terminals) as a new source of income, something that requires approval from the provincial government.
Deterioration extends to other provinces
The report details that other jurisdictions face similar problems:
- Santa Fe: the Quini 6 allows online betting without going through an agency, reducing the prominence of physical locations.
- Córdoba: the crisis is so deep that some experts suspect illegal betting is taking place to sustain activity. The Córdoba Lottery detects an abrupt drop in official business, with agencies barely collecting ARS 250,000 monthly (about USD 172). More than 2,500 agency operators operate only in the Córdoba capital.
Besides economic, technological, and regulatory factors, authorities observe a cultural phenomenon that worsens the situation: the decline of public interest in the traditional Quiniela, historically the engine of the agencies.
An uncertain future
With rising costs, lower attendance, and a digital ecosystem rapidly gaining ground, the sector warns that the survival of thousands of agencies will depend on urgent modernization, new sources of income, and real integration into the online ecosystem. Otherwise, Argentina could lose in a few years a central part of its in-person gambling network.
Tags: Argentina, Loterias Argentina, Buenos Aires Province Lotteries