Technicians from the Ministry of Finance have been receiving representatives from the gaming industry in several countries and participated in international industry events to study ways to allow bettings in the country. One of the possibilities under study, say sources close to the theme, would be to grant licenses to betting operators in the country, who could provide the service in a competitive way. The ideal frame would be to have more than one betting company in the country.
Currently, only Caixa Econômica Federal can
operate gambling in the country, such as lotteries. The government counts on
the privatization of Lotex, the scratch cards, and expects about US$ 315
million with the privatization of these games.
In addition to the sports betting, the selling points usually accept any type
of game in real events. In the United Kingdom, where this type of game is
widely disseminated, bets like "what the name of the queen's next
child" are common, for example.
To get the best ideas, the federal
government is promoting an academic award on lotteries and will offer US$
22,000 for six monographs on the subject, under the theme "Regulation of
Lotteries in Brazil" and "Aspects of Corporate Social Responsibility
of Lotteries ". Registration is open until September 18. The result will
be published on November 29 of this year. Candidates of any nationality and
academic background may participate.
Opening faces criticism and attempts to
release more modalities
Among the difficulties faced by the government to release new gaming option is the pressure on what kind could be released. Among the companies in the industry, there is a defense for the permission also of casinos and bingos, which is still seen with reservations in the government and Congress.
Lawyer Fabio Ferreira Kujawski, Mattos
Filho, Veiga Filho, Marrey Jr. and Quiroga Advogados, who studies the
regulation of the gaming industry, says that one of the difficulties of the
liberation in the country is the pressure to release more modalities. But
Kujawski sees benefits in expanding the sector.
"It's a huge challenge to legalize everything in the country, but this
would legalize games that are already played in the ilegal market, even more
online, which can be accessed from other countries,”he said.
KPMG estimates that by 2015, the online
gaming market was worth US$38 billion worldwide. In Europe, online gambling has
been released for many years, with severe regulation and, according to data
from the UK Embassy in Brazil, ended the illegal gaming market. Revenue from
betting in the United Kingdom is more than 13.8 billion pounds per year
(equivalent to U$ 56 billion), with more than 11,200 establishments licensed to
book bets and bingos. There are more than 100 thousand people employed by the
gaming industry in the country.
The Brazilian gaming market is seen with interest by the entrepreneurs of the
sector, who see in the informality of games and bets (as in local popular "jogo
do bicho”) a possibility to bring these players to legality.
"Brazil needs to be modernized in this legislation. We have been banning games since 1940. Any initiative that is feasible and begins to bring Brazil in a scenario similar to the international one in this sector should be seen with good eyes. There are big investors in the world eyeing here," says the lawyer.
Source: GMB / Gazeta do Povo
