Ecuador’s new sports betting licensing regime sets a USD 315,710 annual fee and 5-year permits

Ecuador has introduced its first formal regulatory framework for sports betting platforms under Presidential Decree 422 and the Regulation to the Sports Law, which was issued on 12 June 2026. For PSPs, acquirers, and banks touching this vertical, the useful part is not the politics of it all but the mechanics: licensing, tax withholding, AML registration, and a ban on sponsorships by unlicensed operators.

1. The new regime turns a previously lightly regulated market into a licensed one. The Regulation to the Sports Law requires operating licences with a validity of five years, and it is presented as Ecuador’s first clear framework for sports betting platforms.
2. The fee structure is material. Companies must pay an annual fee of USD 315.710 during the first 20 days of January each year. They are also required to withhold up to 15% in taxes on prizes paid to users, which matters for payout flows and settlement logic.
3. The text also adds compliance hooks that payment providers usually end up caring about before anyone else does. Sports betting operators must register with the Unidad de Análisis Financiero y Económico (UAFE), and sponsorship contracts between athletes or sports organizations and firms without state authorization are prohibited.
4. The sector’s economic footprint is not small. According to the report Impacto económico de las apuestas deportivas by Alberto Acosta Burneo, the global digital sports betting market moves USD 167.000 billion, while Ecuador’s formal sports betting market moves USD 252 million and generates 22.000 direct and indirect jobs.
5. Industry figures cited by PRIMICIAS, including Israel Verdugo, president of Federación Deportiva Nacional (Fedenador), and Geovanny Cárdenas, former deputy sports minister, say the key shift is moving from a legal limbo to clear rules aimed at sports integrity and fighting gambling addiction. They also flagged a practical issue: the collection of the fee should be channelled through the Servicio de Rentas Internas (SRI), not the Viceministerio del Deporte, as the Regulation currently states in article 241.

The operational catch for high-risk payment firms is straightforward: once a market moves from informal to licensed, the question stops being “can we process this?” and becomes “which operator is properly authorised, which tax deductions apply, and who is on the hook for compliance if the flow goes wrong?”. That is usually where the real work starts.