In December 2018, Brazil made sports betting legal, through Law 13,756/2018, which, as a requirement, established that they should be in the fixed-odds betting modality, that is, the bettor has predefined winning conditions and the winning factor of multiplication of their bet that will result in the prize.
However, for this activity to act effectively, observing the best practices and meeting the wishes of the main players in the industry, regulation is essential. The regulation of the law approved by the then President Michel Temer is pending presidential sanction, with the possibility of creating a regulatory agency for the sector to establish specific rules, inspection and administrative and criminal sanctions.
The sports betting market is a consumed fact. According to a survey by Marketing Esportivo, in 2020 the Brazilian betting market reached a volume of R$ 7 billion. According to the company, the sector grew R$ 5 billion in two years. Without regulation, Brazil is failing to generate millions to the public coffers. The government's own estimate is that this segment will generate up to R$ 8 billion per year, which would generate R$ 700 million annually for the Treasury.
Demand from the Brazilian market is high and interest from Brazilians has increased in recent years. A survey by Google Trends Brazil shows that the search for words such as “aposta”, (“bet”) and “bet+aposta” more than doubled in January 2021 compared to the previous year. In addition to the pandemic, which kept the population in isolation and contributed to the search for online entertainment, another factor that boosted the increase in demand is related to the greater visibility of sports betting in advertising. Currently, the betting market has surpassed the financial sector and is the biggest sponsor of Brazilian football clubs.
Regulation is the most viable way for the Brazilian sports betting industry to follow the same path of success as the international market, which, by the way, has its eye on Brazil. Since the country legalized this type of bet, several international companies began to openly explore the Brazilian market, but with operations abroad, that is, the bets are directed to the local market, but the money collected is taxed outside Brazil. It is worth noting that in 2020 the global market was valued at US$ 59.6 billion and could reach US$ 127.3 billion in 2027, according to data from Grand View Research.
In addition to the volume that this market is failing to collect in the country, there is an even greater risk that needs to be observed: the regulation must be approved by December 12, 2022, otherwise illegal sites will be able to upload a betting portal in Brazil, without any rule, control or inspection. If this regulation is not implemented, Brazil will be in a scenario of illegality and loss of resources so great and essential to get Brazil out of the current economic crisis. A real catastrophe for the legal, economic and financial security that players in the segment have been claiming for years.
Leonardo Baptista
Pay4Fun CEO
