GMB - Tell us a little about your career in sports law..
Daniel Kalume - I have always been passionate about sports, especially football. My interest in the sports area gained more strength when I assumed the position of Legal Vice President of Fluminense, in Rio de Janeiro, in 2018.
The sports betting regulation project has undergone some adjustments, such as the change in the taxation. Is this considered an advance for the development of the betting market in Brazil? What other points in the betting regulation project do you believe should be changed?
Law no. 14,183 sanctioned on 07.15.2021 is the legal framework for the betting industry in Brazil, since it regulates the form of tax collection, something that does not exist in the country so far.
Today, betting companies operate freely in Brazil, through websites based in other countries, without reverting anything to the Brazilian government. With the regulation, bookmakers will have to pay taxes to be entitled to operate in the country.
With the “legalization of betting”, the tendency is for there to be an expansion of offer, sponsorship, advertising, media, in addition to opening the field for new commercial properties to be collectively negotiated by the clubs.
With the current scenario, do you think that the Brazilian betting industry will attract international businessmen and will also open the way for the national one to be able to establish itself among the big ones?
Currently, large national and international sports betting companies already operate in Brazil. We can mention: BETSUL, BETMAIS, BETFAIR, SPOSTSBET.IO, BET365 and BETANO.
It is also necessary to consider the entire ecosystem behind the sports betting industry that will benefit from this regulation.
Here, it is worth registering the company FOOTSTATS.i2a, focused on statistics, offers solutions and safer information for the betting public.
Today, the Brazilian Serie A championship already has a high investment from bookmakers. What do you believe will happen when it is regularized? Will these companies invest more in Brazilian teams (even in other sports)?
It is also worth noting that despite the fact that 85% of the clubs in the A series of the Brazilian Championship are sponsored by the sports betting sector, the amount spent is still negligible when compared to the potential revenue generation from sports betting.
All this increase in the sports betting market will increase the volume of resources destined for Brasileirão Seria A and will reach Serie B, too.
Can Brazil become a power in this area? Why?
Today, around R$ 4 billion per year is transacted in the betting sector. It is estimated that this number will increase by 150% after the total “legalization” of the sector. Personally, I believe the figures will be even higher.
Given this, I see it as inevitable that Brazil becomes a power in the betting market, after all, we are 210 million inhabitants, an extremely relevant market and the regulation of the betting sector is at the federal level. In the US, betting policy is defined separately by each state.
Source: Exclusive GMB
