Mexico

About SEGOB and DGJS

The Secretaría de Gobernación (SEGOB) — Mexico’s tier-three federal gambling regulator — has overseen the country’s gaming market through its Dirección General de Juegos y Sorteos (DGJS) subordinate body since 2004, when the Regulations broadened the 1947 Federal Law of Games and Raffles to permit online gambling under our Latin America licensing review.

SEGOB is Mexico’s Ministry of the Interior — a federal cabinet department with broad governance responsibilities. The DGJS sits within SEGOB and handles the day-to-day work of authorising, monitoring, and controlling gaming activities nationwide. Permits cover casinos, betting establishments, raffles, and online extensions.

Mexico’s framework is distinctive in Latin America for being entirely federal. Unlike the United States, where gambling regulation fragments across state and tribal jurisdictions, Mexican law preempts state-level rule-making — every legal gambling operation answers to SEGOB and DGJS regardless of geography.

The regulator coordinates with the Unidad de Inteligencia Financiera (UIF) for anti-money-laundering oversight and the Servicio de Administración Tributaria (SAT) for tax compliance. As of late 2023, around 380 land-based casinos operate under DGJS supervision, with roughly three dozen permit holders eligible to extend their operations online.

Under President Claudia Sheinbaum, the administration is drafting a comprehensive reform that would replace the 1947 law with a new Federal Gaming and Lottery Law and create the Instituto Nacional de Juegos y Sorteos (INJyS) as a dedicated standalone regulator. As of mid-2026 the proposal remains under inter-ministerial review alongside a 2026 budget proposal to raise the IEPS rate on internet gambling to 50%.

How Mexican Gambling Licensing Works

DGJS issues several categories of permit under the Federal Law of Games and Raffles. Only Mexican corporations can apply directly — foreign operators must partner with a domestic licence holder or operate through the now-deprecated sub-licensing model.

• Land-Based Casino Permit — for bingo halls, betting establishments, and casino operations within Mexico
• Online Gambling Extension — granted only to existing land-based permit holders; no standalone online-only licences exist
• Betting Shop / Horse Racing / Jai Alai Permit — venue or event-specific authorisations
• Raffle Authorisations — for fairs, charity drives, and commercial promotions

The most significant regulatory event of the past decade arrived in November 2023, when Mexico amended the Federal Law of Games and Raffles. The November 2023 Reform banned slot machines outright in all casinos and gambling establishments, reduced the maximum permit term from 25 years to 15 years (non-extendable), and eliminated the legacy “operators” classification — only “permit holders” can now operate gambling activities, though existing operators retain rights for their current permit term.

Permits issued before 2013 remain valid up to 40 years, so legacy holders continue trading under historical terms. New applicants face the post-2023 framework with disclosure requirements covering shareholder identity, criminal-record certification, and anti-money-laundering attestations.

Mexico’s tax burden is the heaviest in Latin America’s regulated cluster. Operators pay 30% Income Tax (ISR) on net annual earnings plus a 30% Special Production and Services Tax (IEPS) on bets effectively collected from players — a turnover-based levy rather than a profit-based one. Federal licensing fees of 1-2% on betting income and state or municipal taxes layer on top.

Player Protection Under SEGOB

DGJS-licensed operators must implement self-exclusion programs, deposit limits, and visible responsible-gambling messaging in accordance with Mexican consumer protection laws. Operators also file periodic problem-gambling reports to DGJS and submit suspicious-transaction reports to UIF under AML obligations.

Customer identification (KYC) and transaction monitoring are mandatory, with particular attention to preventing access by minors. The age threshold is 18 across all forms of gambling. Operators maintain detailed transaction logs for regulator audits and must demonstrate internal controls over their betting systems.

Jugadores Anónimos — Mexico’s Gamblers Anonymous network — provides additional player support outside the regulatory perimeter. Licensed operators must surface contact information for the organisation alongside in-platform responsible-gambling tools.

We frame Mexico’s enforcement honestly: structural compliance exists at the licensed perimeter, but enforcement runs lighter than at EU Tier-1 and Tier-2 jurisdictions. Industry estimates suggest that roughly 60% or more of online gambling activity targeting Mexican players occurs on operators without full domestic licensing — foreign brands in the regulatory gray zone outnumber fully licensed local entrants by a meaningful margin, and our tier-three classification reflects that reality.

SEGOB’s enforcement powers exist on paper and have intensified through late 2025. Under Article 12 of the Gaming Law, illegal gambling participation can lead to short prison terms and modest fines. In November 2025 the SAT suspended 13 casinos for alleged money-laundering failures, and the US Treasury imposed sanctions on Mexican casino operators tied to a transnational criminal group — signalling cross-border enforcement convergence around the regulated sector.

The SAT’s 2026 Miscellaneous Tax Resolution introduced real-time monitoring of online operators, mandating permanent automated access to operator betting and cash-control systems. There is no equivalent of the UKGC’s IBAS/ProMediate/Lindens ADR triad or Sweden’s ARN consumer board in Mexico, however — disputes that exceed an operator’s internal procedure route through general Mexican consumer-protection law and ultimately to civil court.

Mexico vs Other Licenses

Against Spain’s DGOJ framework, the differences are stark despite a shared Spanish-language regulatory tradition. Spain operates a Tier-2 EU framework with a 20% GGR tax, centralised deposit caps (€600 daily / €1,500 weekly / €3,000 monthly), and a national RGIAJ self-exclusion register. Mexico stays at Tier-3 with no centralised deposit cap, a 30% ISR plus 30% IEPS dual tax, and a more diffuse self-exclusion framework.

Against the LOK framework of Curaçao, the structural contrast is between onshore and offshore. Curaçao operates a master-licensee model from outside the European Union with effectively 0% gaming tax. Mexico keeps everything onshore with heavy taxation and a land-based-first sublicensing model that ties online operations to physical casino permits.

Against the Romanian ONJN framework, the comparison runs along reform timelines. Romania pursued a 2025-2026 triple-reform package (Law 141/2025 + ONJN Order 79/2025 + GEO 7/2026). Mexico chose a single-decree approach with the November 2023 Reform. Both regulators tax at roughly 30% but Mexico layers on the additional 30% IEPS turnover tax.

Strategically, we position Mexico as Latin America’s largest tier-three regulated population (~130M) — the heaviest tax burden in the region paired with federal-only structural distinctiveness that runs operationally light-touch in practice.

How to Verify a Mexican Gambling License

Verification starts at the operator level. Licensed casinos must display their SEGOB permit number and the registered Mexican company name in the website footer, alongside contact information for the DGJS oversight body.

The official DGJS public registry of licensed online operators lives on the SEGOB government website. Access from outside Mexico can be patchy — some users find the registry loads correctly only through Edge compatibility mode or via a Mexican VPN. Currently around three dozen land-based permit holders maintain online extensions, with about that many active brands.

Operators that target Mexican players from offshore jurisdictions without partnering with a domestic permit holder operate outside SEGOB’s regulated perimeter. Players who deposit at unlicensed offshore brands lose access to Mexican consumer-protection law, the AML reporting framework, and any practical recourse path through DGJS. Verify the licence before depositing.

Frequently Asked Questions

Final Take

SEGOB and DGJS work best for players who are comfortable with a federal-only Spanish-language framework, willing to verify operators on the DGJS public registry before depositing, and accepting of Tier-3 enforcement reality. The November 2023 Reform brought genuine structural change — slot machine bans, shorter permit terms, permit-holder-only operations — but enforcement against offshore operators remains light-touch and roughly 60% of online activity still occurs outside the regulated perimeter.

Choose a different jurisdiction if you need a dedicated consumer ADR triad like the UKGC’s IBAS/ProMediate/Lindens panel, a lower tax burden than Mexico’s combined 30% ISR plus 30% IEPS structure, or stronger foreign-operator enforcement. For Latin America-focused play and Spanish-language regulatory comfort, the SEGOB permit and DGJS registry remain the practical anchors of regulatory trust.