Argentina’s Neuquén province has formally expanded the mandate of the Instituto de Juegos de Azar del Neuquén (IJAN) to strengthen oversight of online gambling and sports betting, after Governor Rolando Figueroa signed Decree 37/26, published in the provincial Official Gazette.
The measure clarifies—explicitly in writing—that IJAN’s “police power” extends to all gaming modalities, including digital platforms, online sports wagering, and any technological systems used to capture, process, or operate bets. In practice, that language is designed to remove grey areas: the regulator can authorize, regulate, organize, administer, exploit, audit and control online betting activity, and it may issue technical, operational, fiscal and control standards, as well as approve specific rulebooks for each modality.
Industry observers note the decree is less about creating a brand-new power and more about formalizing enforcement authority that the regulator says it already applied through existing concessions. The key difference is legal certainty: by spelling out the online scope, Neuquén strengthens its ability to act against non-compliant operations and to demand that licensed platforms meet clearer technical and reporting expectations. Local reporting also points to the market’s footprint on the ground: in Neuquén capital, there are two online platforms linked to a casino operator in the city’s western zone, with additional offerings in smaller municipalities that have traditionally received less public attention.
For operators and suppliers, the message is straightforward: in Neuquén, online betting is no longer treated as an “adjacent” activity—it is now squarely inside the regulator’s core supervisory perimeter.
