Interactive
Colombia – Sportium launches online in Colombia
By Phil - 19 March 2018
Sportium Apuestas Colombia has joined the eight online operators offering their services in Colombia under the domain name www.sportium.com.co after signing a licence with gaming regulator Coljuegos.
According to a Coljuegos press release published on Tuesday (March 13), the licence was granted for a term of five years and the estimate of the contract amounts to the sum of $7,857 million pesos (around US$2.8m).
President of Coljuegos, Juan B. Pérez Hidalgo, said that the company is now authorised to operate sports betting in Colombia meaning that three months before the start of the 2018 FIFA World Cup, the online gaming portfolio is “attractive and diverse for all types of players” adding that by the end of 2018 it is expected that 17 online operators will be authorised to operate in the country.
Hidalgo also emphasised the fact that Colombia is at the forefront of online gaming regulation in the region and the private sector had shown a great interest in the market. “Colombia is the first country in America to regulate this type of online gambling. There are currently nine websites that are offer online bets : wplay.co, betplay.com.co, colbet.co, zamba.co, codere.com.co, mijugada.co, masgol.co, luckia.co and now sportium.com.co.”
In August 2017, Spanish sports betting operator Sportium announced that it would soon start operations in Colombia as part of its international expansion process. Its entry into Colombia is part of a larger process as the company seeks to expand further in the region with the opening of an office in Panama having opened its first sports betting shop there in September 2016.
Sportium is a joint venture between Ladbrokes Coral Group plc and CIRSA and is already present in Mexico as well. The website (www.casinolife.com.mx) offers sports betting and casino products, bingo and over 200 slot games. Ladbrokes was permitted to launch a new regulated website in Mexico due to Casino Life, Cirsa’s Mexico land based casino business, which was authorised by the regulatory body: SEGOB. It is already one of the leading multi-channel betting operators in Spain and the official betting partner of La Liga. Its launch in Panama has already reaped positive results according to CIRSA.
Executive Director of the company Alberto Eljarrat confirmed the move to press at the time saying that the Colombian market was particularly attractive due to the huge passion for sports in the country and that the site will offer a wide offer of sporting events online.
