Bidding process for three casinos in Chile to advance
Viña del Mar will also open a bid after the Chilean casino regulator accepted Enjoy’s decision to relinquish its licence.
Chile.- Three casinos in Chile will be up for bidding the operator Enjoy relinquished its licences. Enjoy had already relinquished its permits for casinos in Coquimbo to the north and Pucón to the south. Now the national casino regulator, the Superintendencia de Casinos de Juego (SCJ), has approved the resignation of Enjoy’s permit for Casino del Mar’s casino in the central coastal city of Viña del Mar in Valparaíso near the capital, Santiago.
The regulator had delayed a vote on Enjoy Viña del Mar so it could first hold a technical meeting on the matter. It has yet to announce the full conditions for granting a new permit, but finally the municipality of Viña del Mar will hold a bidding process along with the other two districts.
Conditions are likely to include a guaranteed minimum bid, construction or expansion of tourism infrastructure and a percentage of casino employees that must remain in their jobs. The SCJ says that 1,111 people are currently employed across the three casinos affected.
Enjoy made its bids for the three casinos back in 2018, and the agreements are valid until 2036 in the case of Víña del Mar and 2037, in the case of Pucón and Coquimbo. But Enjoy has asserted that it is unable to pay the price agreed. It claims that waiving its permits is permitted under the regulatory framework, but regional governors expressed strong opposition to Enjoy’s withdrawal, arguing that the contracts should be honoured.
According to the SCJ Resolution Council’s decision, the casinos will be allowed to continue operating for a period of three years to allow time for new contracts to be awarded through public bidding. However, the venues’ continuity looks precarious given the losses reported.
Enjoy announced a strategic review back in 2023 after its plan to merge with DREAMS SA was rejected by the Chilean competition authority, the FNE. The group runs six other land-based casinos in Chile and one in Punta del Este in Uruguay.
It also plans to launch an online casino product following the legalisation of online gambling in Chile. The general framework for regulated online gambling has received approval from the Senate, and the bill has now returned to committee stage for more detailed analysis. It remains to be seen if Enjoy’s decision to back out of three of its land-based casinos could harm its chances of obtaining a licence.
