Chile’s land-based casino expansion agenda hit a procedural reset this week after the Superintendencia de Casinos de Juego (SCJ) terminated the technical evaluation phases for two separate operating-permit processes—one tied to a reserved regional quota and another to a nationally available slot.
In its official notice, the SCJ said its Resolutive Council issued Exempt Resolutions No. 96, 97 and 98 dated January 22, 2026, concluding that none of the applicants fully complied with the legal and regulatory requirements set out in the technical bases. As a result, both procedures were effectively left without an eligible technical offer, and the processes will be relaunched in due course under Law No. 19,995 and related regulations.
The affected municipalities are Coyhaique (reserved quota for the region) and Ancud (nationally available quota).
Chilean business press framed the move as a strict-compliance outcome rather than a demand issue, reinforcing that the regulator is willing to halt tenders before the economic-bid stage when documentation or statutory conditions are incomplete.
Industry outlets covering the decision “today” emphasize the operational impact: the voided tenders extend uncertainty for local investment pipelines and, in the south, overlap with broader regional debates about long-term casino continuity and tourism economics.
