Uruguay's Chamber of Operators and Lessors of Casino and Entertainment Hall Services (CUOASEC) has submitted a bill to the Executive Branch to regulate online gambling. The industry body was established in late November 2025; founding members include Codere, which operates Maroñas, and Baluma S.A., owner of Enjoy Punta del Este.
The bill requires state authorisation for all forms of online gambling and limits market access to licensed operators under regulatory oversight. It proposes three enforcement measures against unlicensed activity: blocking unauthorised platforms, creating an exclusive '.bet.uy' domain to identify legal operators, and establishing a national player registry.
CUOASEC argues that illegal gambling enables tax evasion and creates unfair competition for authorised casinos. Players on unlicensed platforms receive no transparency guarantees. The bill also covers transaction tracing, personal data protection, problem gambling prevention, anti-money laundering, cybersecurity, self-exclusion mechanisms and a sanctions regime.
One provision stands out: online licences would be tied to operators already holding land-based permits. That effectively reserves the market for CUOASEC members. Licence requirements, tax rates and revenue allocation are left for later regulation.
Uruguay currently maintains a state monopoly on online gambling. Sports betting is legal only through Supermatch, and private operators are banned from offering online casino products. A bill approved by the Senate in August 2022 has yet to be debated in the Chamber of Deputies.
CUOASEC's executive secretary is Luis Gama, who headed Loterías y Quinielas — the Ministry of Economy body regulating land-based casinos and online sports betting — from 2012 to 2020 before moving into private consulting.
