The project that legalizes gambling in Brazil, such as casinos, bingos and Jogo do Bicho, entered the agenda of the Chamber Plenary today (Tuesday 22). The rapporteur of the text, Felipe Carreras (PSB-PE), stated that, in addition to having been a promise by the president of the House, deputy Arthur Lira (PP-AL), the vote in February was agreed with the party leaders.
Federal deputy Bacelar (Pode-BA) is excited about the entry of Bill 442/91 on the agenda and stated that “finally Brazil will be able to walk side by side with the other developed countries that have regulated gambling as a modern economic activity capable of generate jobs and taxes. Our country desperately needs to create jobs and there is no justification for gambling to remain illegal.”
Felipe Carreras, who reported the replacement of Bill 442/91, has made several changes to his document as a way of meeting the desires and needs that the project itself has and hopes that the final details do not change the text too much. “The Chamber is at a unique moment and can put an end to clandestine gambling, which does not bring benefits to the country, once and for all. With the passage of a comprehensive law, Brazil can take important steps towards development and investment attraction,” he said.
The latest review presented by Carreras maintained the operation of casinos, bingos, video bingo, Jogo do Bicho, online gambling and sports betting (fixed quota) was also included, which are already legalized through Law 13,756, of 2018, pending regulation. To this end, the review is proposing to repeal the articles of the law dealing with fixed-odds bets.
The document provides that sports betting will be explored in a competitive environment, but will be limited to one operator for every 1 million inhabitants in each State or Federal District where the company operates. For states with less than 1 million inhabitants, only one license will be granted.
This new territorial limitation that introduces the law indicates that, for example, São Paulo (the state with the largest population in the country) could have a maximum of 46 legal sports betting sites in operation, as it has just over 46 million inhabitants, according to the latest 2021 census. On the other hand, states like Tocantins, Acre or Roraima would have only one bookmaker, as their populations are less than 1 million inhabitants.
From this new limitation, it follows that in total a maximum of 203 licenses may be granted to operate sports betting in Brazil, always remembering that the accreditation for its exploitation must be limited to the territorial limits of each State.
Another key data for the market is the inclusion of a minimum capital to access an online gambling license or fixed quota (sports betting). The text stipulates that the legal entity interested in exploring these modalities must be constituted under Brazilian law, with headquarters and administration in the country and, also, with a minimum paid-up capital of R$ 100,000,000 (US$ 19.5m).
In addition, for sports betting and online gaming, it was defined a Gambling Inspection Fee (Tafija) of R$ 600 thousand (US$ 115k) per licensed domain each quarter. For the other modalities, the values were maintained:
I – Bingo Houses – R$ 20,000 (US$ 3,900) per licensed establishment.
II – Casinos – R$ 600,000 (US$ 115k) per licensed establishment.
III - Jogo do Bicho – (US$ 3,900) to each licensed entity.
Jogo do Bicho
In addition to sports betting, according to the new version of the substitute for Bill 442/91, online gaming and Jogo do Bicho operators will also be limited to one license for every 1 million inhabitants in each State or Federal District where the company operates. Also for this modality, there will be a maximum of 203 licenses to be granted throughout the country, always divided by state.
Accreditation for the exploitation of Jogo do Bicho will be granted for a specified period of 25 years (previously 20 years), renewable for an equal period, provided that the requirements set forth in this Law are observed.
In order to give greater security to the operation, inspection and compliance with international standards, the text adds that for the accreditation of video bingo machines and electronic games machines in casinos, the issuance of a technical report by specialized independent laboratories will be mandatory.
Bingos and Casinos
The new text maintains the limitation of three casinos in integrated resorts for states with more than 25 million inhabitants (Sao Paulo), two in states between 15 and 25 million inhabitants (Rio de Janeiro and Minas Gerais) and one for other states (less than 15 million inhabitants).
The licenses for the casinos will be through a bidding process of the largest investment type and the largest proposal to obtain the license, which will have a fixed term of 30 years, renewable for an equal period.
Bingos will also be limited in the number of houses, with a maximum of 1 venue per 150,000 inhabitants in the city where they settle. In them, video bingo or electronic bingo may work, and the use of any other type of gaming machine, such as slots, is prohibited.
The new text provides for the operation of a maximum of 400 video bingo machines in bingo houses. The authorization will be valid for 20 years, renewable for an equal period.
Turf
In the new text, articles that allowed jockey clubs to operate bingo and video bingo games were excluded, in addition to horse racing bets, but maintained the possibility of exploring bingo games in stadiums with a capacity of over 15,000 fans.
The virtual plenary session of the Chamber of Deputies is scheduled for 1:55 pm this Tuesday, February 22, with broadcast on social networks and TV Câmara.
If the bill becomes law, there will be amnesty for all those accused of exploiting illegal gambling in the modalities mentioned in the text. All ongoing processes will also be extinguished when the legislation is published.
Source: GMB
