The gambling and betting regulation scenario in Brazil has never been as heated and prosperous as in 2023. The work in favor of legalization and for the best enjoyment of the benefits arising from this sector relies on the participation of the federal government, the National Congress and initiatives of the industry itself. On independent but coordinated fronts, they complement each other towards a common objective.
On the first front, in the National Congress, the president of the Senate, Rodrigo Pacheco, stated that one of the priority agendas this year is the vote on the replacement of Bill 442, from 1991, known as the Regulatory Framework for Gaming in Brazil. The project intends to legalize and regulate games of chance, such as bingos, casinos and the jogo do bicho.
The approval of this project represents an unprecedented and very promising advance in the gaming sector in Brazil. The regulation of these activities has notable benefits, such as generating job openings, increasing the economic development of the country and regions with low economic alternatives, creating protection parameters for players, strengthening operational security for game providers and, above all, increasing revenue to the State.
In 2022, the efforts made by the President of the Chamber of Deputies, Arthur Lira, had an effect. The substitute for Bill 442 was drafted and approved in February of that year, under the rapporteurship of Deputy Felipe Carreras, considered an “agenda holder” of the sector, that is, a politician who concentrates important debates on a certain matter.
The debate overcame historic moral prejudices about gambling, almost all of which have already been rejected by the international experience in gambling regulation, as occurred in the United Kingdom or in Nevada and Atlantic City, in the United States.
As for the federal government, the Minister of Finance, Fernando Haddad, highlighted the development of a provisional measure to regulate fixed-quota bets, sports betting, in compliance with the creation of the modality in 2018, with the publication of Federal Law 13,756. Completion and presentation of the normative draft is expected after his trip to China in early April.
With the issuance of the provisional measure, it is expected the possibility of operating sports betting by companies authorized by the Ministry of Finance and headquartered in the national territory. The benefits of this movement are the increase in revenue from the taxation of the activity, the creation of parameters for monitoring operations and the creation of responsible gaming rules for gamblers, in a growing and opportune market in Brazil. The expectation is to remove the fixed-quota betting sector from a gray operating situation, with uncertainties for companies and bettors, and consolidate it as one of the largest markets in the world.
Finally, dealing with the third front, it is worth mentioning the engagement of operators in building the sector and in favor of the development of gaming and betting activity in Brazil, with the creation of the Brazilian Institute of Responsible Gaming (IBJR) and the National Association Games and Lotteries (ANJL), in which part of the biggest players in the national territory participate.
The institutions created by the industry have the common objectives of helping the government in the debate about the regulation of games of chance and betting and contributing to the growth of the sector in the domestic market, with parameters and guidelines for safety and reliability. The industry's movement is consistent, as it demonstrates that the gaming and betting sector of the 21st century moved in an organized and committed way to remove that prejudiced and obsolete historical perception that the gaming sector is dishonest or a stronghold of organized crime, replicated in movies, books, series and soap operas.
It is currently an economic activity in which the vast majority of operators are committed to quality standards, in the midst of an active competitive environment. The self-regulation criteria imposed by the gaming and betting market itself are essential for the operator's survival, and those who comply with them are prepared for regulation. The debate on gambling and betting regulation in Brazil has never been so mature and ready to take off.
Filipe Senna Goepfert
Lawyer specializing in Gaming Law, Master in Gaming Law at IDP, partner at Jantalia Advogados.
Source: Gazeta do Povo
