How to Promote Online Betting and Gambling in Chile?

Publication date: 19 Jun 2024

Chile is one of the most promising gambling markets for the next decade. The offline gambling sector in Chile is steadily growing and appreciated, while the regulation of online casinos and betting companies is just around the corner. Read all about the gambling and betting development, laws, advertising regulations and target audience in Chile in a new review on 3S.INFO.

How is online gambling and betting regulated in Chile?

Gambling in Chile is regulated by the Casino Law No. 19,995 of 2005 (Law No. 19,995 of 2005 / the “Casino Law”).

Officially, only land-based casinos are allowed in the country, where roulette (French, American, “Big Six”), cards (Blackjack, Poker, Baccarat, Punto y Banca), dice (Craps, Crown and Anchor, Chuck a Luck), bingo and slot machines are popular.

All documents only regulate the offline sector, the operation of online casinos and bookmakers in Chile is currently unregulated.

What types of gambling are allowed in Chile?

The main regulatory body is the Casino Gaming Authority (Superintendencia de Casinos de Juego / SCJ). This body issues, renews and revokes Chilean gaming licenses and controls the operation of casinos.

By law, a maximum of 24 casinos may operate in the country. A list of operating land-based casinos by region in Chile can be found on the regulator’s website.

Nevertheless, despite the lack of regulation, the online sector is quite active. According to Similarweb (May 2024), Betano, Jugabet, Coolbetchile, Betsson1001, Rojabet, Leon Casino are among the most popular gambling sites (sports betting, casino games).

Ahrefs search traffic service provides interesting data: the brands Novibet, Betsala, WinChile, Coolbet, CasinoenChile, 1Win, 1xBet are on the list with the most searches on Google (May 2024).

How are gambling and betting sites blocked in Chile?

If there is no official online gambling and betting in the country, there is no one to fight it. At least not now, before the regulatory changes and the possible full legalization of gambling in Chile (read more about this in our review). No one is engaged in planned and systematic blocking of offshore operators’ sites in Chile.

The situation that arose in March 2024 is very illustrative here. At the request of casino operators already legal in Chile, the Supreme Court ordered the government to block access to websites that “should be considered illegal until the government finds a regulatory status for online gambling”. The Chilean Gaming Authority (SCJ) supported this position, reiterating that “without clear legal regulation, the commercial use of gambling in Chile is illegitimate”.

The Chilean gambling monopolists who made the accusation provided a list of 1,200 sites. However, some sites from 20 companies, including Betano, Betsson, Coolbet, BetWarrior and 1xBet, were eventually blocked on a one-off basis.

How much money is made from gambling in Chile?

In April 2024, the 25 land-based casinos operating in the country recorded gross gaming revenue (winnings) of US$44,963 million, 10% lower in real terms than in April 2023.

Figures released by the regulator SCJ show that Chile’s legal casinos remitted $15,875 million in taxes (to local governments, VAT on gambling and ticket tax) in April 2024. This is 9.8% more than a year ago (for April 2023). By the way, all figures for March 2024 represent the growth of the industry.

Nevertheless, such data show that the gambling sector is successfully developing, bringing revenues to the budget and supported by the government.

What is the right way to advertise betting and gambling in Chile?

At the moment, there are no special restrictions for advertising online betting and gambling in Chile.

How to attract residents to Chilean casino and bookmaker websites?

The Republic of Chile is located on the coast of the southwestern part of South America. According to the world population pyramid, it will be home to approximately 20 million people by 2024.

This country leads the continent in several parameters: literacy rate, economic growth and general standard of living.

Major cities of Chile: capital Santiago (the population is 4.8 million inhabitants), Puente Alto (510 thousand inhabitants), Antofagasta (310 thousand inhabitants), Viña del Mar (295 thousand inhabitants), Valparaiso (282 thousand inhabitants).

The official language is Spanish. One of the most popular native languages is Mapudungun, spoken by about 200 thousand people. English is not widely spoken.

The official currency is the Chilean Peso.

The majority of the population is religious: 55% are Christians. At the same time, 38% do not belong to any religion.

According to the World Bank, Chile is a high-income country. As of June 1, 2024, the average salary in Chile is about $1300.

ENV Media’s May 2024 data shows that the number of players in Chile is about 7 million. Meanwhile, the average revenue per user is $120 per year.

Chile ranks first in South America in terms of Internet speed.

According to Statista, in the last 10 years (from 2014 to 2024), the number of internet users has grown from 10.8 million to 17.9 million, representing an internet penetration of 91% of the country’s total population.

There are approximately 25 million mobile devices in the country. The majority of players are between the ages of 25 and 34 (25%), 35 to 44 years old make up 23% and 16 to 24 years old make up 17% of the total number of players.

In January, the Casino Gaming Authority and the National Institute of Youth Development (INJUV) presented the results of the “Youth and Gaming” survey. The study included young Chileans between the ages of 15 and 29.

Recall that in Chile, adulthood comes at the age of 18.

As a result, experts found that 8 out of 10 young people have played online or watched others play on online platforms. Of these, 89% were male, and the majority were between 15 and 19 years old (82%) and from a high socioeconomic level (82%). The average time spent playing online games is 7 hours per week. Watching is 6 hours, with Twitch and YouTube being the most popular platforms.

Also, 50% of respondents have bet on sports at least once. Men – 58%, women – 36%. The majority belongs to the 20-24 age group (52%) and the 15-24 age group (41%). One in five young people (20%) in Chile have bet on sports events in the last 12 months.

Significantly, 7 out of 10 young people strongly agree that the government should be more active in regulating online sports betting.

What casino games do residents prefer to play?

According to the SlotCatalog platform (SlotRank ranking based on information from 104 online casinos) in June 2024, the top 5 popular slots in Chile look like this:

1. Gold Blitz;
2. Big Bass Bonanza;
3. Big Bass Splash;
4. 9 Masks of Fire;
5. 3 Lusky Rainbows.

What sports are popular in Chile?

1. Football is the most popular sport in Chile, accounting for about 50% of sports betting. The Chilean national team is one of the strongest in South America. Alexis Sanchez, Ivan Zamorano, Mark Gonzalez are among the most successful Chilean footballers. “Colo-Colo” (Club Social y Deportivo Colo-Colo) and “Universidad de Chile” are the most popular soccer clubs in the country.  Since 1933 the Chilean Football Championship / Chilean Primera División has been held. Besides, the Chilean Cup and Super Cup of Chile are also held on a regular basis.
2. Rodeo has been the national sport in Chile since 1962 and is most popular in the country’s central region. It is the second most sought-after sport in the country. According to Wikipedia, 20 years ago the number of bets on rodeo exceeded football bets. Every year Rancagua hosts the National Finals Rodeo.
3. Tennis is also particularly favored by the people of Chile. Santiago annually organizes the Open Championship among men and men’s pairs, in 2024 the prize fund amounted to more than $660 thousand dollars.
4. Fernando Gonzalez is a renowned tennis player from Chile, one of the two Olympic champions in the country’s history. Two other famous tennis players from Chile are Nicolas Massu and Marcelo Rios.
5. The mountains of Chile are ideal for alpine skiing and snowboarding. National and international skiing competitions are conducted here. Portillo is a famous Chilean ski resort. For many years teams from the USA, Canada, Austria and other countries meet there for race training during the summer season. Maui Gaime, Noel Barahona, and Jorje Mandru are ski athletes who have represented their country many times at the Winter Olympics.
6. Cueca is a traditional Chilean bowling-like game in which participants throw a metal disk called a cueca to hit a target. Competitions in this sport are often held in Chile’s towns and villages as part of fiestas.

What means of payment are available in Chile?

According to a McKinse study (2021-2023) in Chile, 81% of respondents prefer debit cards to cash payments. One of the most popular local debit card service brands is Redcompra.

You can make deposits in Chile with MasterCard, VISA, AmericanExpress and Diners Club cards. Local bank transfers in Chile are made using Khipu, Servipag, Sencilitto.

PayPal, Skrill, Netelle, MuchBetter payment systems work in the country. 

Local e-wallets are MercadoPago, MACH.

Major mobile operators in Chile are Entel, Movistar, Claro, Virgin Mobile.

Cryptocurrency is not regulated in Chile, so buying and selling crypto is quite easy. 

How to make creatives for Chile: cultural peculiarities

Chile has one of the fastest internet connections in South America. The speed of the Internet allows you to use in creatives not only images, but animation or video + cheerful music, which will catch the eye better.

1. Chile is a multinational country that was a Spanish colony for a long time. The indigenous population is only 3-5% of the total population of the country. This fact should be taken into account when designing creatives and, in the case of using the image of people, it is better to use white-skinned or mestizo (the latter is the majority – 70%).
2. Chilean Spanish is a special dialect that differs significantly from the standard language.
3. Only land-based casinos are officially licensed in Chile. Among the establishments with high ratings are Sun Monticello, Marina del Sol Talcahuano, Marina del Sol Calama. Their views, facades and interiors can be used to create images of luxury, wealth and chic living.
4. Chileans love horses. Rodeo, the national sport, is as popular as football. The image of a “hero on a horse” is quite suitable for creating a happy and successful person in life.
5. When it comes to work, Chileans are very punctual. However, if it is not about work, they are not in a hurry and often like to postpone the solution of some tasks “for later”. Be aware of this fact! Use time constraints and delays to make them rush and make a decision in the moment.
6. On holidays and weekends, Chileans like to entertain themselves. Traditionally, interest in gambling increases during secular holidays and decreases during religious celebrations.  Official holidays in Chile include New Year’s Day (December 31 – January 1), Labor Day (May 1), the most popular holiday – Fiestas Patrias / Independence Day (September 18-19), Christmas (December 25). National: Memorial Day for the victory in the War in the Pacific (May 21), Indigenous Peoples Day (October 12). Religious Holidays: Good Friday (end of March – beginning of April), Saints Peter and Paul Day (June 26), Day of the Evangelical and Protestant Churches (October 27), All Saints Day (November 1), Feast of the Immaculate Conception (December 8). Almost all businesses in Chile are closed on these days.

Which traffic sources are popular in Chile?

According to StatCounter data for the last year (May 2023 to May 2024), the most popular in Chile are

• Social networks: Facebook* (52.35%), Instagram* (29.97%), Pinterest (4.17%), YouTube (4.17%), Twitter (X network) (2.85%), LinkedIn (0.95%).
• Search engines: Google (93.7%), Bing (4.28%), Yahoo (1.58%), Yandex (0.17%), DuckDuckGo (0.14%).
• Browsers: Chrome (69.24%); Safari (10.17%); Yandex Browser (6.11%), Opera (5.56%), Edge (4.56%) and Firefox (1.86%).
• StatCounter also calculated the penetration of mobile devices: Samsung (31.45%), Apple (22.06%), Xiaomi (14.15%), Motorola (9.04%), Huawei (4.88%), others (18.42%).

The popularity of operating systems was distributed as follows Android (76.7%), iOS (22.06%), Windows (0.89%).

*Facebook and Instagram are blocked in Russia by court order. 

Outlook for the regulation and development of gambling and betting in Chile

The Chilean regulator, the Casino Gaming Authority, has plans for 2024 to “promptly issue regulations governing online gambling platforms”.

At the end of 2023, the Chamber of Deputies of the Chilean Parliament approved Bill No. 14892-29, which will regulate online betting and gambling.

Interestingly, the major operators already operating in the country (Betsson, Betano, Coolbet, Latamwin, Betwarrior and 1XBET) have united and hired a common lawyer – Carlos Baez – to protect their interests. He will lobby as much as possible for the new law and the official regulation of online casinos and sports betting in Chile.

What is important in the new Chile 2024 gambling law?

If passed into law in this form, online casinos and sports betting will be allowed in Chile:

• For a general 5-year license (all types of gambling in Chile with an annual fee of 1,000 UTM (Chilean conventional units of account), a temporary license of 100 UTM.
• The penalty for violation or operating without a license is from 11 to 200 monthly tax units (UTM);
• Only advertisements from or promoting legitimate operators may be broadcast. ISPs must block access to illegal platforms and prevent downloading of applications from illegal providers. Illegal operators are prohibited from having bank accounts in banks registered in Chile. Banks will also have the right to block transactions from illegal operators.
• Betting is prohibited for minors, employees of the Casino Gaming Authority, state and municipal officials who manage public funds.
• Operators will pay a 20% tax on gross revenues, spend 1% on responsible gambling activities, and bookmakers will also pay 2% to national sports federations. In addition, operators will be required to pay 19% VAT, making the total gambling tax in Chile one of the highest in the world;
• Players will pay 15% of winnings on withdrawals.

The taxes are expected to generate 84.09 billion pesos ($91.5 million) annually.

The approved bill has been sent to the Chilean Senate for further consideration. We look forward to hearing the news! If you want to be the first to know, subscribe to our Telegram channel!

There is a developed land-based gambling market in Chile that is used by a large part of the country’s adult population. And the day when bookmakers and casinos will be able to entertain Chileans online is very close! And now, while restrictions on movement in the country are minimal, it’s time to master the hot GEO and solvent audience! The best betting and gambling offers, where quality traffic from Chile is expected, are available on the 3SNET network!