An end to umbrella licenses
Twenty-five new casinos will open in Mexico, some as early as this year, says the country’s gaming regulatory body, the Asociación de Permisionarios y Proveedores de Juegos y Sorteos.
Investment in the casinos, which will replace those recently closed by the Interior Ministry, will be between $12 million and $15 million each, according to a report on the G3 newswire as cited by the World Casino Directory.
The Interior Ministry, SEGOB, has revoked the licenses of several casinos in Chiapas, Monterrey and Coahuila, and the Directorate General of Gaming has already approved most of the licenses, according to reports. In a significant change, the recently enacted Federal Betting and Raffles Law would ban “umbrella licenses” that allow operators to run several slot parlors or betting shops under a single license.
About 100 casinos were closed from 2012 to 2014. Among the biggest losers was Entretenimiento De Mexico, which lost a federal permit to run up to 50 casinos. The ministry claimed that previous administrations “had awarded incomplete licenses and the system was in a state of disorder,” according to the WCD.
