Dreams joins request to suspend casino tenders
Dreams presented its arguments before the Chilean Tribunal for the Defense of Free Competition to join Marina del Sol's claim and request the suspension of the casino operating permit granting processes in the communes of Iquique, Coquimbo, Viña del Mar, and Pucón. Last week, the same tribunal had granted the request of the Superintendency of Casinos of Gaming and resumed the tender for the Viña del Mar casino, which had been suspended due to a claim by Marina del Sol, although in that resolution it set a deadline for the parties involved to provide background information. In this context, Dreams decided to request that the call be put on standby while certain issues are analyzed.
Through the Pellegrini y Rencoret law firm, Dreams argued that the suspension does not imply prejudging the merits of the consultation, but would only allow the tribunal to make an effective, useful, and practicable decision, something that, in its opinion, could not happen if the measure is not granted. According to the document cited by the local media La Tercera, the suspension can be effectively decreed without affecting acquired rights of third parties or altering already concluded stages, and the lawyers warned that granting a 15-year concession before resolving the complaints would have significant costs for the system if the process later had to be reversed. The firm also estimated that the suspension would not harm the Superintendency or the municipalities, as current operators would continue to operate under the terms of their respective extensions, referring to the casinos managed by Enjoy in Viña del Mar, Pucón, and Coquimbo and by Dreams in Iquique.
The operator believes that the process contains aspects that are clearly anti-competitive. In Iquique, it questions the obligation to hand over the property at the end of the term without compensation, the imposition of hiring one hundred percent of the outgoing operator's gaming staff, and the requirement for predefined complementary works unrelated to the casino's operation, which, in its opinion, necessitate large investments without the possibility of recovering returns. In Coquimbo, it objects to the high minimum investments and predetermined works, along with an irrevocable option to sell the property to the municipality at a price to be defined later, which would prevent projecting profitability. In Viña del Mar, it points out the impossibility of projecting construction times and the obligation to ensure total job continuity and tourist improvement works, and in Pucón, it also criticizes the requirement to hire all gaming staff and tourist infrastructure works as a disincentive to participation.
For Dreams, if these issues are not addressed, the process could reduce the number of interested operators and incentivize lower economic offers due to the higher risk and lower attractiveness of the projects. The document even recalled a 2016 tender in which, according to the firm, offers were accepted that were later not fulfilled, and warned that continuing under these conditions could discourage participation if the tender is subject to being annulled or modified. The Superintendency had opened the tender in February of this year, and the bid presentation hearing is scheduled for August 11, 2026, at 10 AM.
Tags: Dreams, Marina del Sol, TDLC, casino tenders in Chile, Superintendency of Gaming Casinos