How To Open an Online Casino or Sportsbook in Argentina

Considering it’s the second largest South American country by landmass and third largest by population, it’s no surprise that Argentina is one of the hottest opportunities for anyone looking to open an iGaming business in LatAm right now. But knowing how to open an online casino in Argentina is very different from understanding local online gaming trends and being able to use them to your advantage.

At Slotegrator, we know what it takes to conduct a gambling market analysis in Argentina and create a step-by-step online casino business plan for the region. The laws and regulations are a little trickier here compared to other emerging markets, but the appetite for gambling here makes it well worth learning the finer print for.

After all, the casino industry growth in Argentina is showing a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 4.49% from 2025-2029, placing estimates on the market to grow to around $6.6 billion by 2029.

Online gambling and casino market in Argentina

When it comes to gambling, Argentina has a historical sports betting culture that has created a strong foundation for online casinos to build their reputation on. Three of the largest horse racecourses in LatAm can be found in this region, not to mention one of the most famous football teams in the world.

With these factors in play, experts estimate that around 14.6 million Argentines take part in online betting each year. This is only further facilitated by high figures of internet penetration: as of January 2025, 90.1% of the population was connected to the World Wide Web through some capacity, meaning that accessing the latest sports betting markets or online gaming trends in Argentina are only a few taps away for the average player.

Is online gambling or sports betting legal in Argentina?

Compared to other jurisdictions, even within LatAm, the online casino regulations in Argentina are very fragmented. This is because gambling is not regulated at a federal level, but instead by each individual province, as dictated by section 301 bis of the Argentine National Criminal Code.

This means that each of the 23 provinces (and the autonomous city of Buenos Aires) regulate gambling in their area independently from one another. What is legal in one city may not be legal in another. This is why consulting with a specialized team of experts on this region is critical before launching your brand: you don’t want to break the online gambling laws in Argentina.

Under this model, there is no singular national iGaming licence that allows operators to launch across the entire country. Every jurisdiction has to be carefully considered alongside player numbers, potential gross gaming revenue (GGR), licensing processes and conditions. The Argentine Government even acknowledges that its gambling market is made up of 24 territorial authorities, with each body at different stages of creating their online gambling frameworks.

While there have been pushes to legalize online casinos in Argentina under one all-encompassing framework, that seems unlikely to happen for the foreseeable future. Until that happens, operators will have to approach each authority individually. These can be found in the table below:

Legal framework for iGaming in Argentina

Some jurisdictions, such as the City of Buenos Aires and Mendoza, require iGaming companies to go one step further when establishing themselves. They require games and platforms to be certified by specific laboratories before they can go live, which can naturally add onto the cost to open an online casino in Argentina if brands are not prepared for these additional steps.

It’s also worth noting that in Argentina, online gambling license durations can also vary drastically. In the City of Buenos Aires, online casino licenses can last for five years, with the option for a five year extension; but in Córdoba, licenses can last for up to 15 years.

Formalities for setting up a gambling company in Argentina

When looking into how to open an online casino in Argentina, operators have one particularly significant decision to make early on in the process: whether to establish themselves as an official entity based in Argentina or operate outside of the country.

Under the Decree No. 293, approved by the Federal Executive Branch, and General Resolution No. 5,228 of the Federal Tax Authority (AFIP), different tax rates are applicable depending on whether the business is classed as an Argentine resident operator or a non-Argentine resident operator.

There are also additional steps for businesses who choose to become an Argentine resident operator, such as stricter responsible gambling measures and player liability expectations.

How to get online casino license in Argentina

The first step for any iGaming business looking at a new region will be learning how to get an online casino license. Due to the fragmented nature of online gambling licenses in Argentina, each application is considered on a case-by-case basis for the specific jurisdiction involved.

This is where our dedicated licensing team comes in. They can help streamline the process by helping you collect all of the documents needed and stay compliant as you register an online casino business in Argentina. They will create a step-by-step license acquisition plan to help launch a compliant and legitimate iGaming business.

Online casino tax rates in Argentina

Only two things are certain to happen in this world: death and taxes. Despite this, Argentina has made the tax system quite a bit more complicated than it needs to be. The country has three taxation levels: federal, provincial and municipal — unless you are in the City of Buenos Aires, in which there are only two levels: federal and provincial. On top of this, operators are granted different tax amounts, depending on whether they are an Argentine resident operator or a non-Argentine resident operator. This means the cost to open an online casino in Argentina can vary wildly depending on which taxes apply to your business.

If the operator is based in Argentina

One of the most interesting aspects of the Argentine gambling market is the way that taxes are handled differently, depending on whether the business is classed as a resident operator or not.

For Argentine resident operators:

• If they have invested at least ARS 200 million (€113,690/$132,673 as of August 2026), have a minimum of 20 full-time employees and are incorporated in the Register for the Online Control of the Betting System, they could pay as little as 2.5%
• If they are simply incorporated into the Registry, they will pay 5%
• If they are not in the Registry, they will be expected to pay 7.5%

If the operator is based outside of Argentina

In Argentina, online gambling laws do not restrict companies from operating without a business headquarters in that country. Instead, the taxation for online casinos in Argentina scales significantly higher for these offshore entities, as a way to balance the potential loss of local investment and local employment opportunities.

For non-Argentine resident operators:

• If they have joined the Registry, but are located in jurisdictions without exchange of information agreements with Argentina or in low or null taxation jurisdictions, they will pay 10%
• If they have not joined the Registry or are located in jurisdictions without exchange of information agreements with Argentina or in low or null taxation jurisdictions, they will be expected to pay the full 15%

Popular Payment Methods in Argentinian Online Casinos

In April 2025, Argentina repealed its regulations under Decree No. 269/2025 and Central Bank Communication ‘A’ 8226 to make the financial landscape easier to navigate for businesses. However, before you can figure out the cost to open an online casino in Argentina, you will need to consider the unstable and often unconventional local payment landscape.

For a very long time, people in Argentina have faced chronic inflation, volatile currency fluctuations and harsh restrictions on what they can and cannot do with their money. All of these factors have created a long-standing distrust of traditional banking institutions.

While MasterCard and Visa are still accessible here, players will also expect payment types such as Mercado Pago, Rapipago, PayPal, Skrill and PagoFacil. All transactions will have to be done in Argentine pesos, as there is no support for other currencies.

Cryptocurrency Support

Although cryptocurrency is not currently regulated or licensed for use with online casinos, people in Argentina are increasingly leaning towards digital currencies such as Bitcoin as a way to circumvent the conversion rate of the Argentinian Peso.

This means there will be some level of pressure from local players to use cryptocurrencies on websites operating in the country, but the full scope of this potential will rely on online casino regulations in Argentina shifting in the future.

Marketing online casinos in Argentina

As you may have guessed, the rules around online casino marketing and advertising in Argentina are also handled by the individual provinces and their respective authorities. This means that if you are interested in marketing online casinos here, you will have to focus on one area at a time, obtain the correct local licences and adhere to the strict local regulations. This also applies to casino affiliate marketing in Argentina, with streamers proving to be a very popular and trendy option in this region.

Choosing a Casino Software Provider for Argentina

Although the gambling laws are fragmented across the different provinces, there is one common sentiment shared between them: operators are responsible for ensuring that all third-parties or external providers must adhere to local regulations.

For example, providers in Buenos Aires won’t need to apply for a full iGaming licence to work with operators in the jurisdiction — but they will need to be registered as approved suppliers before they can legally offer their services.

As such, the operator is the one responsible for checking the reputation of online casino software providers in Argentina before integrating them onto their platforms. This includes asking for laboratory certification from Gaming Laboratories International (GLI), BMM or eCOGRA; API documentation; proof of KYC/AML systems and secure data handling. This process can be made simpler by selecting reputable aggregators, such as our APIgrator solution, which has 20,000+ games from over 150 providers.