Brazil's House of Representatives and Senate approved provisional measure 846/2018 that would legalize sports betting in Brazil for the first time. The bill includes plans for the distribution of revenue to support government programs.
The bill's author, Senator Flexa Ribeiro, has stated that the bill would ensure that gains from Brazil's sizable offshore gambling market could be brought into the country. Ribeiro estimates this market generates about R$4.3 billion (USD$1.1 billion) per year.
Brazilians are very passionate about sports, and the national lottery is a huge money-maker. Brazil launched its online lottery in August of this year, selling more than $12 million lottery tickets. Roughly 413,000 people have opened online lottery accounts.
"Latin American is one of the fastest-growing markets in the industry and estimates suggest that it has moved US$4.9 billion in 2017," remarked Sergio Jardim. Jardim's company, Clarion Events Brasil, organized the Online Gaming Summit held this week in São Paulo where attendees discussed the regulation of online sports betting.
Incoming Minister of Justice Sergio Moro also has a good feeling about the financial impact the bill will have on the country. The bill will require that brick and mortar betting operators pay 80 percent of revenues to customers while online operators will pay 89 percent to their players. Operator revenue will be capped at eight percent, and all remaining gains will go to the government.
Talks of legalizing sports betting have been in the works since 2014. The original draft of the approved bill was rejected in March of this year. While many politicians appreciate the potential of sports betting to fill the country's hungry coffers, there are a few detractors. Among them, Gilberto Nascimento of the Social Christian Party, who says that it will "create a generation of addicts to generate a few million reals more for the public safety fund."
The bill is awaiting approval from outgoing President Michel Temer. The expectation is that the bill will be passed easily as Temer has stated that he would approve measures to legalize gambling if they were approved by the legislative branches. As everyone waits to see if the bill will pass, international casinos are no doubt gearing up to invest.
