With more than 427 million people on the continent, and approximately 75% of that number eligible to gamble, South America is a massive potential market for online gambling.

On the other hand, Colombia became the first Latin American country to establish a local licensing regime, which was introduced in September 2016, and remains the only fully regulated online gambling market in Latin America. Coljuegos, issued its first online gambling license in June 2017.

As a result, the fully regulated online gambling market in Colombia, which is initially forecast to generate up to $ 8 billion in its first years of operation, grew by almost two-thirds in the first half of this year.

The entity also managed to close almost 3,000 illegal gambling venues, collaborating with federal police investigations, and calling for the introduction of more severe penalties and longer penalties for criminals.

Currently, the only fully regulated market in all South America and even Latin America is Colombia, which not only sets trends, but is possibly one of the fastest growing markets in the area.

The rest of the continent is not proving to be so fast. But with Colombia in the lead, are other sleeping giants more likely to wake up?

A market with considerable potential and increasing speed is Argentina. The region has recently begun to move towards a legalized gambling market, since the province of Buenos Aires became the first to enact a regulatory decree that legalizes online gambling and sports betting at the end of last year.

With the potential online gambling market in the country made up of individual provinces, there is hope that more and more will follow the example of the capital and introduce its own legislation. With current progress in mind, it is widely believed that Argentina will become one of the largest markets in South America in the next two years.

Argentina's positive outlook on the issue of gambling, online or otherwise, as well as its general belief that legalizing it is the most efficient way to eradicate illegal activity and protect all involved, play an important role. in anticipation that currently prevails in this region.

Moving on to a slower, but even bigger, prospective market, we arrived in Brazil. Despite the predictions that it is one of the largest potential markets not only in the Latin America region but in the world, there is still no legalized gambling industry in Brazil.

However, the Brazilian Ministry of Economy launched a public consultation this year on how to regulate sports betting, after the country's sports betting legislation was enacted in December 2018. Many say this could indicate the beginning of an industry of online gambling more comprehensively regulated.

The country's extremely strict laws on the subject reflect the opinions firmly held by the post-war government that there was a link between gambling and organized crime, prostitution and money laundering.

Although modern opinions have changed regarding these problems, and of a clear and overwhelming interest in online gambling and games that have developed in recent years, government restrictions have not yet been lifted.

Regardless of whether foreign operators enter the market, the industry is clearly proving to be prosperous for the country. This had led many to believe that Brazil is beginning to realize that it is almost time for changes to be made.

In general, South American markets are evident for many reasons, including the increasing saturation of existing markets within the industry, plus the undeniable interest of players across the continent.

The regulation of the online sector throughout the area will surely also bring a lot of benefits to individual nations, as Colombia has shown us all