OFFICIAL NOTE
During this week, the Chamber of Deputies must consider Bill No. 3,626/23, which regulates sports betting in Brazil. The vote will also allow parliamentarians to rectify the Senate's mistaken decision, which opted to exclude online games from the regulatory process.
In the IBJR's understanding, the consequences of this decision could be profoundly harmful to the country. It is imperative that the Legislative Branch induces the Federal Government to fully exercise its control over the sector. Estimates indicate that, if only sports betting remained regulated, only a percentage between 25% and 30% of the market would be regulated and monitored, since, on average, online games represent around 70% of companies' revenue of the segment. In other words, with the exclusion of this modality, the tendency is that for every R$10 (US$ 2.02) bet on the internet environment in Brazil, R$7 (us$ 1.41) will be in the informal market.
This disproportionality, in addition to leaving society exposed to abuse, due to the lack of explicit control by the Brazilian State, if maintained, will impact the interests of companies in the sector, which will start to reevaluate investments in Brazil, since the global market standard is always the offering both types of product: sports betting and online games together. Regulating a single vertical and leaving the other without support, regulation and supervision drastically reduces the size of the formal market and consequently, the level of interest on the part of large global players and potential national investors.
In conclusion, IBJR understands the concern presented by senators when removing the online casino and other electronic games from the text to be considered by federal deputies. However, we believe that based on the international experience of the associated companies, which together operate in more than 40 countries, comprehensive regulation is the only way to create a safe environment for this new sector of the national economy to develop in a sustainable manner, combating today's growing informality.
We hope that the return of the project to the Chamber of Deputies will allow the final text to include the two modalities that make up the iGaming sector in Brazil and that the sector can integrate into the Brazilian economy in a quick and collaborative manner.
IBJR – Brazilian Institute of Responsible Gaming
About the Brazilian Institute of Responsible Gaming
The Brazilian Institute of Responsible Gaming (IBJR) was born from the union of the bet365, Flutter, Entain, Betsson Group, Betway Group, Yolo Group, Netbet Group, KTO Group, Rei do Pitaco, Novibet and LeoVegas with the aim of fostering debate on the regulation of this segment in Brazil, contributing information to defend the creation of clear rules and guidelines so that sports betting companies can operate legally, protecting the interests of players and civil society.
Currently, in addition to iGaming and sports betting companies, IBJR has among its members payment companies such as OKTO Group and Pay4Fun, media groups such as Better Collective and the Clever Advertising agency.
