Puerto Rico Sees Increase in Sports Betting During March

More and more bets are recorded from locations in San Juan.

Puerto Rico (April 14, 2023) — While little by little licenses continue to be issued to different operators in various phases of the sports betting industry, both the government and operators agree that March marked an increase in the bets made in Puerto Rico.

Although not yet played on online applications, two major sporting events appeared to drive betting on operators licensed for land-based play. It is about the March Madness of college basketball and the World Baseball Classic, confirmed by the director of the Sports Betting Bureau, Eric De La Cruz.

However, the precise figure on the plays generated in Puerto Rico is still unknown, the official established. “That data of the plays who have it are the operators,” said De La Cruz.

“What we receive is the tax established by the Law, but the data from the operators is supposed to be quite detailed,” he added.

Regarding the high betting activity during March, the general manager of Casino Metro, Ismael Vega, explained to this medium that this period seemed to mark a milestone in what they saw as a pattern of constant growth since the establishment began to operate with your license to handle sports betting.

“Since we opened in December, every month we have been in double digits in betting. That does not mean that we have increased profits by double digits because it all depends on how the events unfold, but we have grown in participation since MetroBets has managed to be a favourite among the Puerto Rican clientele,” Vega said.

MetroBets is the sports betting house that the Casino Metro at the Sheraton Hotel in the Convention District inaugurated in December 2022. “We are growing at a steady pace,” added Vega.

At the moment, sports betting is done in person, from casinos. A few weeks ago, the executive director of the Gaming Commission, Jaime Rivera Emmanuelli, indicated in a press release that the process of evaluating and authorizing the online betting operation is well advanced.

“Once certain final details are clarified, the door to online betting is officially open, from anywhere using mobile devices such as smartphones and computers,” said the director of the regulatory agency.

In addition to Casino Metro, in Puerto Rico it operates a betting house in Casino del Mar in La Concha, where an upward trend in players was also reported. Licenses have also been granted to service providers in the industry in sectors such as suspicious activity monitoring, as well as data collection.

In the case of Casino Metro, Vega maintained that the profile of the players who participate in the bets is usually mostly men between the ages of 21 and 30.

Metro Puerto Rico tried to contact executives of the National Superior Basketball League for this report since it is one of the sports on which bets are made, but there was no response. Recently, it was published in the local press that the new season started without workshops or educational courses for players and managers on game integrity.

 See the original article in metro

SOURCE: Metro Puerto Rico.