Mexico has 423 authorized casinos across 30 federal entities
The association representing gaming permit holders, operators, and suppliers in Mexico has put its figures on the table. According to its estimates, the country’s 423 authorized casinos, spread across 30 states, support more than 60,000 direct jobs and reach approximately 200,000 positions when indirect employment is included—a calculation that the Asociación de Permisionarios, Operadores y Proveedores de la Industria del Entretenimiento y Juego de Apuestas en México wants to bring into the public debate.
The argument extends beyond casino payrolls. The organization maintains that the industry's nationwide footprint creates commercial ties with suppliers of all sizes, with technology, maintenance, security, cleaning, and food services among the sectors sustained by these contracts, and with SMEs that rely on casinos as regular-paying clients. Ricardo Barraza, Head of Communications and Institutional Relations at the association, has been insisting on expanding the disclosure of data regarding employment, investment, tax contributions, and partnerships with domestic suppliers, with the stated goal of bringing the sector out of the background in the public debate.
The macroeconomic figures provided by the organization look beyond brick-and-mortar venues. Gaming and betting as a whole reportedly account for around 0.5 percent of the national Gross Domestic Product, a share covering activities that extend beyond land-based casinos. Added to this are the federal and local tax obligations of authorized venues, alongside ongoing investments in facility upgrades, technological equipment, and infrastructure. The digital sphere also plays a role, with more than 100,000 authorized gaming machines operating within regulated venues and around 80 legal online gaming platforms.
The association couples its economic data with a regulatory stance. Acknowledging the sector's reach, it argues, does not mean downplaying gambling risks; hence its call for clear rules, oversight mechanisms tailored to each vertical, player protection, and effective responsible gambling measures. Its other demand is differentiation—separating compliant operators from those operating outside the law—because, according to its perspective, only in this way can the economic contribution be sustained over time and continue to trickle down into jobs, investment, and domestic suppliers.
The timing of these figures is not coincidental and is best examined alongside the regional landscape. Just a week ago, the same association estimated that 60 percent of the Mexican market operates illegally—though no official data confirms this—and is now rounding out its narrative with employment figures, echoing the exact argument the Brazilian sector has been using since restrictions cost it more than 3,500 jobs in fourteen days. The difference is in the timing: in Brazil, the labor figures emerged as an aftermath, whereas in Mexico they serve as a preemptive measure, with the industry mounting its economic defense before the debate heats up. It is worth noting that the leap from 60,000 to 200,000 jobs implies a more than threefold multiplier between direct and indirect employment, and that the association did not publish the methodology behind the calculation—making it the exact number a lawmaker is likely to ask to be audited first.
Tags: Mexico, AIEJA, employment, casinos