The current casino can operate until 2028, which gives the Superintendencia de Casinos de Juego room to restructure the process
Weeks after Viña del Mar’s casino tender drew no bidders in August, two of Chile’s most active casino operators have taken their case directly to the city’s mayor, Macarena Ripamonti, suggesting the sector’s interest in the concession is intact while the conditions attached to it are the sticking point.
According to lobby-law records, Claudio Fischer, the businessman behind the Dreams casino group, met Ripamonti in person on September 2 to present the company’s investment projects for the commune. A week later, on September 11, she met Lientur Fuentealba Meier of Corporación Meier, in a session listed as covering the tender processes. Both operators have reason to be talking: Dreams already runs the Puerto Varas casino, and Meier operates Talca and Puerto Natales, and both saw their Puerto Varas bids disqualified on documentary grounds in a separate process this year, which Dreams has argued points to design problems in how these tenders are run.
People familiar with the meetings said the conversations ranged across the industry, including online gaming, which has become a major source of pressure on the regulated sector, and a specific objection to tender rules that require a fixed economic offer for 15 years regardless of economic cycles. “That is a real problem,” one source said. The numbers help explain why. The minimum economic offer set for Viña del Mar was 394,000 UF, roughly CLP16.2bn or US$ 16.500m at the UF value implied by recent filings, a level several operators publicly called too high before the tender closed, predicting it would attract no one. That is what happened. The process was triggered by Enjoy’s resignation of the Ciudad Jardín permit, one of the four relinquishments the company has filed in just over a year.
The current casino can operate until 2028, which gives the Superintendencia de Casinos de Juego room to restructure the process, but it will need to launch a new tender. The open question is under what conditions. Dreams has already argued that five of the seven tenders resolved in 2026 ended without an awardee, and Meier has said regulatory uncertainty is weighing on its investment plans in Chile. For the Superintendencia, which is still without a permanent head, the meetings with Ripamonti are a useful signal that experienced operators remain willing to bid for one of the country’s most valuable casino locations, provided the financial terms reflect market cycles. A redesigned offer structure could turn a failed tender into a better-subscribed one.