Of the 20 Serie A clubs in the Brazilian Championship, 15 have betting sites among their sponsors. Companies are part of the daily life of national football, even though they still operate in a gray area of the legislation.
Approved in December 2018, the exploitation of lotteries by private entities, including fixed-odd sports betting (when the bettor knows the prize if the result is correct), awaits regulation by the federal government until today.
While the theme does not advance in the Ministry of Economy, a decision of September 30, 2020 by Minister Gilmar Mendes, of the STF (Supreme Federal Court), allows states to manage their own lotteries and bookmakers. Some already discuss how to do this in practice.
A project by Deputy Vinicius Cerqueira (PROS) is in the Constitution and Justice Commission of the Goiás Legislative Assembly (PROS) to regulate the issue in the state. The proposal is not just for sports, but the deputy believes that it has one of the greatest potentials.
“There are many practices today, mainly online betting, especially in football. And that has no security, you bet on a platform that is usually based in another country,” he says.
The text, which may still be amended by the House, foresees that the government opens public notices to accredit private companies that may operate, including on the internet. It also stipulates percentages of the collection that will be passed on to sectors such as sports, culture, and security.
There is also a project in the Legislative Assembly of Maranhão, sent by the government. According to Antonio Nunes, president of Maranhão Parcerias (autarchy that takes care of the issue), there are already about 30 companies interested in operating in the state. Sports betting is a planned possibility, but not yet a priority.
“We did not include it at first because we are in a hurry to implement the state lottery. We have education programs to which this money will go,” he says.
In Espírito Santo, the proposal has already passed the Legislative and is now in the structuring phase by the Executive, when it will be defined, for example, the way of hiring companies and the types of games allowed.
“We still have no preference or objection [to sports betting]. The expectation is to complete everything by the end of the year. A lottery can have several products,” says Finance Secretary Rogelio Pegoretti.
Gilmar's decision evoked two decrees, from 1944 and 1967, to maintain that the Union does not have a monopoly on the exploitation of lotteries, thus allowing states to own their own bookmakers.
"The Union's private competence to legislate on consortium and sweepstakes systems (art. 22, item XX, of CF / 88) does not preclude the material competence of the States to explore the lottery activities nor the regulatory competence of this exploration," decided the minister reporter.
People linked to the topic say they were taken by surprise by the decision in the STF, and that is why projects in the states are still starting to emerge. At the same time, they understand that these may generate pressure on the federal government to speed up their regulation.
Even living in limbo until now, the internet sports betting market moved R$ 4 billion (US$745m) in the country in 2019. A report by the consulting firm Grandview Research estimates that worldwide the movement reached US$ 53.7 billion.
According to the expectation of this market, Brazil - due to its continental dimensions, its passion for football and because it already houses a large number of people betting on services from abroad - would have the potential to be one of the three countries in the world that most move money with the sport. The lack of regulation makes more precise measurements on the subject difficult.
“The problem is that in Brazil there is a huge legal uncertainty regarding anything related to gambling. Everything related to this, due to this insecurity, cannot attract serious and large investors and generate considerable gains,” says lawyer Pedro Trengouse, professor at FGV (Fundação Getúlio Vargas) and certified in gaming regulation by the University of Nevada, in the USA.
Civil law allows companies from outside the country to offer bets to Brazilian users even without regulations in Brazil, which makes the operation happen in a gray area.
"If someone bets on a company abroad and takes a default, they cannot claim in Brazil. They would need to go to court in the company's country. If you have a company licensed here, you go to the Court of Justice and resolve," says Udo Seckelmann, from Bichara & Motta Advogados.
The same logic that allows companies from abroad to operate in Brazil guarantees that companies regularized in a certain state offer bets for the whole country.
“Online is inevitable, especially after the pandemic. Then the bettor from all over Brazil can bet on the Goiás lottery. Now, I, as a Goian, will prioritize the Goian lottery, because the return [of taxes] is for my state," says Deputy Vinicius Cerqueira.
He reports that, since he proposed the law for Goiás, deputies from other states have sought him out to understand how to do it in their own.
Thus, a competition can be drawn between units of the federation to attract companies, even with the possibility that the federal regulation will become obsolete when it is defined - in December, the forecast to complete it was July this year.
Bookmakers have told Folha, on condition of anonymity, that state football federations have been lobbying parliamentarians to pressure the government. The owners also say they are not confident about the Ministry of Economy deadline.
Since August last year, the BNDES, which is responsible for the process of granting and privatizing assets of the Federal Government's Partnership for Investments Program (PPI), has been designated to conduct the regulation.
Last week BNDES published a form for contracting technical services for structuring the concession project. Interested parties have until the 19th to apply.
After the BNDES study is ready, it will still be submitted to the Ministry of Economy's Secretariat for Evaluation, Planning, Energy and Lottery. The folder will define the concession format, such as license term and operating fees.
The dispute between states, and even with the Union, would occur for better conditions for companies to operate. This includes the ease of acquiring a license and taxes.
“Often, regulation is very expensive, with very high taxes. And the betting company will have to place lower rewards, reversing the tax to the bettor, who may end up going to the unlicensed market [from foreign companies] because the rewards are more beneficial,” argues Seckelmann.
There is also a possibility for sports lotteries and bookmakers to be administered by the governments themselves, federal or state.
Trengouse warns of the fact that, as it emerged from a court decision and based on an old law, the permission for the units of the federation to operate their own lotteries can still generate much debate.
“This decision by the Supreme Court, on the one hand, is very good, but on the other hand it reflects this great legal uncertainty that Brazil has long lived regarding gaming. One pen can change everything, and the STF decision, in the end, was another pen,” he says.
Source: Folha de S.Paulo
