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Chile – Chile’s troubles take a huge bite out of the country’s casino revenue

By - 18 December 2019

Casinos in Chile continue to be affected by the constitutional crisis and civil unrest. Gross gaming revenue for the nineteen casinos operating in Chile combined with the seven municipal casinos reached $32,036m Chilean pesos (US$41.6m) in October.

This represented a drop of 22.3 per cent from the same month last year, while accumulated real growth stood at -3.7 per cent, over the last 12 months.

According to the latest report released by the Chilean Gaming control Board (SJC), in terms of gross gaming revenue, generated by the casinos authorised by Law No. 19,995 they recorded $23.9bn, which accounted for 74.6 per cent per cent of the total. This was a real variation of -21.6 per cent in comparison with October 2018. As a result, the regulated industry recorded an accumulated real growth rate of- 2.1 per cent in the last twelve months.

On the other hand, the municipal casinos recorded a total of $8,137m of gross revenue, representing a total of 25.4 per cent of the total industry. This figure implies a real monthly variation of -24.1 per cent compared to October 2018 and an accumulated real growth rate of -7.2 per cent in the last 12 months.

Regarding visitor spending, during the month of October for the casinos which already come under the supervision of the SJC, average expenditure stood at $ 62,741 per visit, meaning a real variation of -9.0 per cent per cent when compared to October 2018, and a real cumulative growth when it came to expenditure of -0.8 per cent over the last 12 months. Meanwhile the 380,923 registered visits reflected a variation of -13.8 per cent compared to October 2018 but an accumulated growth of -1.3 per cent in the last 12 months. Data for average visitor spend for the municipal casinos is unavailable. Meanwhile total visitors to the municipal casinos (not including the casino in Puerto Varas, which does not record this information) stood at $127,394.

The amount played in the month of October, in the 10,360 slot machines that were in operation in the 19 regulated casinos amounted to $315,545m. The prizes paid to the players reached $295,360m equivalent to 93.6 per cent per cent of the total wagered.

In October the municipalities and regions where the casinos are located received a total of $9,013m in gaming tax revenue from the nineteen non municipal casinos.

According to the latest report released by the Chilean Gaming Control Board (SJC), in terms of the gross gaming revenue generated by the casinos, Sun Monticello came in first with 19.4 per cent. Casino Viña del Mar accounted for 10.0 per cent and Marina del Sol Talcahuano with 8.7 per cent came in third.

Despite the acute slump the situation could improve with the announcement that the government will hold a referendum to replace the country’s constitution next year. This has been one of the key demands of protesters. Recent months have seen intense, violent nationwide protests due to Chile’s severe social and economic inequities.

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