Chile is set to close the chapter on a protracted and fractious dispute over the ownership and management of municipal casinos.
The Superintendency of Gaming Casinos (SCJ) is due to issue a determination permitting Enjoy SA,Chile’s heritage gambling group to withdraw early from its casino concession contracts in Viña del Mar, Coquimbo, and Pucón.
The decision will bring formal closure to a four-year legal and financial standoff triggered when Enjoy filed for bankruptcy protection in 2020. At the time, the company had only just renewed its licences to run the three municipal casinos.
In negotiations with bondholders since the turn of the decade, Enjoy has stumbled through a prolonged restructuring, culminating in a second round of judicial reorganisation in early 2024.
Now, in a move brokered by the Ministry of Finance and designed to unburden the courts, the SCJ will allow Enjoy to exit its obligations by 2028—eight years ahead of the 2036 expiry date. The mechanism was made possible by an amendment to Supreme Decree 1,722, which added Article 46 to permit “prejudiceless” termination of municipal casino contracts under financial duress.
“For the judiciary, this matter has become an administrative burden without end,” said a senior legal source familiar with the case. “The resolution will spare courts from what could have become years of litigation between the state, municipalities, and a weakened operator.”
Critics, however, contend that Enjoy has escaped with little more than reputational damage. Under the revised rules, the operator is not required to pay termination penalties or forfeit bond guarantees—provided it meets basic conditions such as a three-year notice period and resolves outstanding debts to suppliers.
“This sets a dangerous precedent,” warned Laura Riquelme, a municipal councillor from Viña del Mar. “Enjoy signed contracts, took on financial commitments, and is now walking away with no material consequences. Local communities are being left to count the losses.”
Viña del Mar estimates its fiscal shortfall at over $200m due to lost casino revenues and unfulfilled development projects. Enjoy argues that the contracts were simply no longer viable. “The pandemic changed everything,” said a spokesperson for the company. “Revenues collapsed, tourism slowed, and regulatory clarity was lacking. We’ve worked in good faith to resolve our obligations within a difficult financial context.”
The matter’s resolution has fuelled longstanding speculation that Enjoy’s days as an independent entity are numbered. Once hailed as a national champion of gaming, the firm has become the subject of persistent M&A rumours. Several US private equity funds are understood to have scoped the business in recent months, waiting for legal and regulatory risks to clear. “Enjoy is now a reshaped asset,” noted an investment analyst in Santiago. “Without the municipal contracts dragging on its books, it’s far more digestible to foreign capital.”
Meanwhile, the Chilean government is trying to use the moment to restore order in the sector. The SCJ has relaunched the tender for the Puerto Varas casino licence—also formerly held by Enjoy—and updated its technical criteria for future concessions. “This is an opportunity to reset the public-private balance in the casino sector,” said a Ministry of Finance official. “Contracts must be commercially realistic and legally resilient.”
Still, reform is proving elusive in the digital realm. A comprehensive Federal Gambling Bill introduced in 2023 remains stalled. The proposed framework, which would license online gambling and apply a 20% tax on GGR, has been stymied by fierce opposition from state-run monopolies and legal action from Chile’s national football body.
The bill also calls for 2% of operator revenue to be earmarked for sport and 1% for responsible gambling. Yet the broader legislative package remains gridlocked. “We cannot modernise the gambling sector with half the market in legal limbo,” said Senator Juan Ignacio Latorre, who sits on the Finance Committee. “The situation online is unsustainable.”
The government may have brought Enjoy to heel, but Chile’s broader gambling reform remains unfinished in which the government must convince state-owned gambling group’s to accept terms of a new market. As such, Chile has closed one front in its gaming wars—but several others remain open, unresolved, and increasingly urgent.
