Chile unblocks the tender for the Viña del Mar casino
The bidding process to award the operating permit for the Viña del Mar casino can now continue. Chile's Tribunal de Defensa de la Libre Competencia (TDLC), the Competition Defense Tribunal, decided to lift the suspension it had decreed weeks ago within the framework of the procedure initiated after the query presented by Marina del Sol.
According to the resolution issued on July 2, the Tribunal considered that the information provided by the Superintendencia de Casinos de Juego (Casino Gaming Superintendency) allows concluding that the eventual risks to competition derived from the permit allocation process in Viña del Mar are of lesser magnitude than those considered when the preventive suspension was ordered, thus revoking that measure. In the same ruling, the TDLC extended the deadline for interested parties to submit information by ten business days, setting the new deadline as July 21, 2026.
Through a statement published on LinkedIn, the Superintendency welcomed the decision and indicated that the resolution accepts the arguments it had presented, which demonstrated that maintaining the suspension of the process generated greater harm than its continuation. The agency also recalled that the tender seeks to guarantee the continuity of the operation of the municipal casino of Viña del Mar under the rules of current legislation, ensuring competition among interested operators and the stability of the income associated with the concession.
The suspension had been decreed by the TDLC after admitting Marina del Sol's query, which questioned aspects of the bidding process and requested a precautionary measure while the merits of the case were analyzed. According to the company's argument, the terms and conditions contain requirements that would restrict the participation of new operators and give advantages to firms with previous presence or assets in the tendered locations. Among the objected points are the high minimum amounts required to submit bids, the prior definition of locations for the Iquique and Viña del Mar projects, the obligation to retain all employees of the outgoing operator, and various commitments to invest in infrastructure for local communities.
In February of this year, the Superintendency had opened the processes for granting casino operating permits in the communes of Iquique, Coquimbo, Viña del Mar, and Pucón. The bid presentation hearing is scheduled for August 11, 2026, at 10 AM.
Tags: TDLC, Superintendency of Gaming Casinos, Marina del Sol, Viña del Mar Casino