In Argentina, the Deliberative Council of Rivadavia, a municipality in the province of San Juan, is analyzing an initiative to prohibit advertising linked to online gaming and betting in public spaces, with special emphasis on areas surrounding educational establishments and sports clubs frequented by minors. The proposal, presented by councilman Cristian Morales, also adds a component for regulating online gaming platforms operating within the department.
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The initiative reflects a growing concern in various municipalities across the country: the accelerated expansion of betting advertising in mass media channels, driven largely by the increasingly close link between the world of football and sports betting brands, and its impact on young audiences who do not yet have the resources to evaluate the associated risks.
The project and its municipal scope
According to what Morales himself explained in a dialogue with Canal 13, the ordinance would have an exclusively municipal scope and its application would remain under the supervision of the departmental Executive. The text has already been referred to the Commission on Legislation and Constitutional Affairs, where work is being done in conjunction with different sectors to, in the words of the councilman, achieve an enriching regulation that considers the different aspects of the problem.
Morales also highlighted that there is a broad consensus among his peers on the need to move forward with the regulation. The agreement on criteria among council members from different political backgrounds suggests that the initiative has concrete possibilities of succeeding in the chamber, although the full legislative process still remains to be completed before eventual approval.
The warning about minors and access to betting platforms
The central axis of Councilman Morales’ argument points to the vulnerability of minors to advertising and access to betting platforms. In his own words: “Today we see betting advertising everywhere, even linked to football. The problem arises when minors manage to bypass controls and access these platforms. This forces us to reflect on what we are doing to prevent these situations.”
The reference to football is not accidental. In Argentina, as in much of Latin America, sports betting brands have found club sponsorship and advertising during football broadcasts to be one of their main visibility channels.
Illegal online gambling, another central concern in San Juan
Beyond the municipal initiative in Rivadavia, the issue of online gambling has a provincial dimension in San Juan that is also being addressed institutionally. The president of the province’s Social Action Fund (CAS), Juan Pablo Medina, referred to the progress of illegal online gambling in an interview with Café Martínez and outlined the measures the organization seeks to implement to address this situation.
Among the ongoing actions, Medina highlighted the work on the regulatory decree of the San Juan Online Gaming Regulation Law. This regulatory instrument already has the approval of the CAS Board of Directors and is currently under review at the provincial Ministry of Economy, Finance, and Treasury. Once that process is completed, the text will be sent to the Government House for its final regulation.
The expansion of illegal online gambling in San Juan is noted as a particular concern due to the ease with which minors access these platforms through mobile devices. The daily use of cell phones and tablets by children and adolescents considerably reduces the barriers to entry for sites that, in many cases, do not apply effective age verification controls.
A debate replicated throughout Argentina
The movement in Rivadavia is not an isolated phenomenon. In recent years, the debate over the regulation of online betting advertising has taken hold in different parts of the country, driven by both health concerns and the growing visibility of the sector in the media and digital platforms.
At the national level, the regulatory framework for online gambling remains fragmented: each province defines its own rules, which creates significant asymmetries in terms of user protection and advertising control. In this context, municipal initiatives like the one in Rivadavia function as warning signs about the gaps that the current system fails to cover, and also as public policy laboratories that could inspire broader regulations at the provincial or national level.
The combination of a municipal ordinance focused on advertising and a provincial decree under construction to regulate online gambling suggests that San Juan is moving, albeit still in a dispersed manner, toward a scheme of greater control over a sector that until a few years ago operated practically without restrictions.
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