Local operator Royal Betting Solutions SAS has become the twelth firm to receive a Colombian online gambling license.

Earlier this week Colombian gambling regulator Coljuegos announced that the firm had received permission to launch online operations via its Apuestalo.co domain. Royal Betting, a venture of local construction, commerce and services entrepreneurs, has signed on for an initial three-year term.

Coljuegos President Juan Pérez Hidalgo used the new license announcement to provide an update on the regulated market’s performance to date. Since the market’s first licensee launched in July 2017, Hidalgo said Colombian punters had wagered a total of COP500b (US$170m), while Coljuegos had collected COP15b in fees from its licensees.

Hidalgo also explained that, like the ongoing World Cup which has been full of surprises, bets have had similarly unpredictable results.

“We are identifying the profile of the players of the online bets, which are going to complete a year of having been regulated,” he explained.

“According to the analysis we have made it has been shown that 85% of the players are men, the remaining women (15%), that their main way of purchase is cash (97%) and that their age is between 18 and 40 years old. By the end of 2018 we hope to have authorised 17 online operators in the country.”