The renowned Portuguese group Estoril Sol, from Casino Estoril and ESC Online Casino, expressed interest in the long-awaited new market in Latin American lands. Metropolitan cities such as São Paulo, Espírito Santo and Rio de Janeiro are possible investment targets for the opening of a resort with a casino.
The possible legalization of different gaming verticals in Brazil made the operator show interest in the Brazilian sector. The president of the Estoril group, Mário Assis Ferreira, made statements indicating that it is part of the company's plans to open land-based casinos in the country of carnival.
Also in 2016, the Chairman of the Board of the General Assembly of Associação Portuguesa de Casinos, member of the Board of Trustees of the Luso-Brazilian Foundation and Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Casa da América Latina, Mário Assis Ferreira, wrote an explanatory note on the importance of a gaming legislation for casinos and other gaming operators to be implemented in Brazil.
The document brings important data on the numbers in Portugal, after regulating betting in the country in 2015. This year alone, according to the Gaming Inspection Regulation Service (SRIJ), Portugal recorded gross revenue of 128.3 million euros generated by the online gambling and betting activity in the country, only in the first quarter of 2021.
Current Brazilian law on casinos
Brazil still does not have specific legislation on online betting. Land-based casinos have been banned in the territory since 1946, when the last roulette game was played at the Copacabana Palace Hotel's casino, on April 30 of that year.
A few decades later, around 1996, online casinos began to emerge in the world and the novelty arrived in Brazil. With the absence of a specific law on the practice of online gaming in national territory, the business was successful there.
Since then, there have been some proposals on the legitimization of betting activity in the country, but it is still under observation in the Brazilian National Congress.
Does Portugal reflect the future of casinos in Brazil?
Overall, the Latin American situation reflects the European panorama of a decade ago. Specialists believe that Brazil and other countries are currently following the same path that Europe took.
With the regulation, it is expected the formalization of more than 160 thousand jobs with the activity and the increase of tourists to around 12 million a year. The regulation should also intensify the catalog of online gambling sites and casinos that already operate in Brazil with licenses issued by other countries.
The final touch should come with the emergence of national companies in the area, as is the case in many countries with local operators within Portugal.
Source: PortugalCasino
