"The offer and quality of services and products will be the key of the future of the Mexican industry”

Pérez Lizaur started the exhibition thanking organizers of the series of conferences and of the exhibition as well, and invited Carlos Zamudio to talk about the history of the legislation and opening of the Mexican market, from 1947 to date.

“Nowadays, there are around 60,0000 gaming machines operating, of which near 80% operate with legal licenses, while the rest are illegal or operate in an irregular way”, assured Zamudio.

“The market has had an important experience in the latest years, Class III machines-which already had a legal frame that allowed their operation-were definitely approved by regulators in the last year, which causes that, in 10 years, we have passed from almost not having legal games to have a sector that currently has all the varieties existing in entertainment”.

When talking about legality in Mexico, Perez Lizaur pointed: “Nowadays, the whole country has a legality problem, not only in gaming but also in other sectors. The explosive growth that the country has had at an economic level has exceeded the state and its regulators, so gaming is not the only informality case, but the reflection of a more general problem”.

“The formal industry is comprised by 25 authorized companies. At a license level, there are 412 authorized sportsbooks, of which 245 are operating. If we consider the sportsbooks and the centers in nearly all cases ocuppy the same spaces phisically speaking, we have around 230 to 240 centers in the country, and licenses to establish at least 150 more. The offer could almost double in the next two or three years”.

The public opinion and the way in which the sector is currently perceived was another issue treated. “Today in Mexico it is necessary to change the impression in which casinos are linked to money laundering, drugs or illegality. It is a complex issue, that we have carried on for the public opinion to change its impression, and to bring this industry the legality, employment, technical development and entertainment to which we are focused,” said Manuel Alonso.

“Big operating groups are doing a great job today with regards to that issue -added the general director of AB Com-, offering a high quality and secure entertainment, with a healthy profile. We want the media to start seeing that there are local and foreign businessmen that today generate an economic growth and offer a modern alternative for Mexicans when playing”.

“We currently note that the public opinión sunjects are not just negative reflections of reality, but issues that allow the sector to locate as an important economic factor, in which investments and competitivemess are important valies and gaming is not just a controversial issue. Today, the government and the economic sectors acknowledge gaming as a positive reality with a big growth”.

Pérez Lizaur offered an overview: “Today we have an antique regulation, but with the awareness that there are clear concerns both from the government and the actors of the sector, to make this sector grow. Gaming in Mexico is an important activity and we want to focus in bringing all our effort to bring it the important place it should have for the country.”

“The offer and quality of services and products are the future of the Mexican industry. Nowadays, competence leads us to improve our offer every day, and definitely the future of the Mexican market will belong to those who understand that, and may put the local sector at the same level than the big international gaming markets”, he concluded.