Buenos Aires Province is caught between mounting pressure to restrict online gambling and the financial consequences that a sweeping ban could bring.
Legal expert Tomás García Botta, a partner at Argentine firm MF Estudio Abogados, raised the contradiction plainly, asking: “At the provincial level, these types of measures could indeed be introduced, and they could pass. But what sense does that make in a context where the province needs tax revenue? I find it difficult to understand.”
The debate intensified after Brazil moved to ban regulated online betting last month, triggering calls for comparable action across the border in Argentina.
Underage gambling has become a central concern driving the legislative push, with policymakers under increasing public pressure to act decisively.
Two distinct proposals are now advancing through the Buenos Aires provincial legislature, each offering a very different response to those concerns.
Senator Federico Fagioli has put forward a bill nicknamed the “Lula Law,” which would eliminate online sports betting and casino-style games across the entire province.
His proposal would repeal Chapter VIII of Law No. 15,079, effectively tearing down the licensing framework that has governed online gambling in Buenos Aires since regulated operators first launched there five years ago.
Under the bill, products including sports betting, online slots, roulette, blackjack and poker would all be prohibited, though traditional lotteries and prize draws would remain permitted.
Licensed operators would face a ban on accepting fresh deposits and would be required to return existing customer balances, while advertising, bonuses and sponsorships would be outlawed entirely.
Fagioli has argued that the proliferation of smartphone access has stripped away the practical barriers that once limited gambling, and that current regulations fall short of addressing the resulting risks.
Running parallel to the “Lula Law” is a broader reform package in the Chamber of Deputies, a so-called “megaproyecto” consolidating 27 separate initiatives into a single regulatory framework.
That package targets advertising restrictions, biometric identity verification and the suppression of illegal gambling operators, and its backers are pushing to bring it to a vote before the legislative year closes.
No voting date has been scheduled for Fagioli’s ban proposal, leaving its timeline far less certain than the reform package.
García Botta acknowledged that the Fagioli bill could encounter constitutional challenges at the provincial level, and he expressed doubt about whether prohibition would actually deliver the outcomes its supporters are seeking.
