Vaidebob, a sports betting house with a large share in the Brazilian sports betting market, is excited about the government's first step in publishing the Provisional Measure that regulates the activity in Brazil.
However, the director of the company, Thomas Carvalhaes, a profound connoisseur of this market and with a curriculum of lectures and seminars on the segment, understands that the government made a mistake in defining a tax of 18% on the GGR. "With the other added taxes, it reaches almost 40% of taxation, which makes any profitable operation unfeasible," he told GMB.
For him, it is important that the government understands that the activity cannot be taken to operate in the black market in the face of a scenario of taxes that promote the removal of serious bookmakers from the regulated market.
"The news is well received from the point of view of progress in relation to the regulation itself, but it comes with some concerns, such as the question of taxation of the bettor and also of the operator, including the value of the grant," he told GMB.
Thomas also pointed out that the Provisional Measure that regulates fixed odds betting does not provide for live odds betting. "This modality is not foreseen in the MP."
In the assessment of Vaidebob's director, there is a risk that operators will not be channeled to the regulated market and "the most pronounced risk is the proliferation of sites that are not interested in applying for the license and choose to operate in the black market."
According to him, this has already happened in Mexico and Portugal. “In 2013, when the sector was regulated in Portugal, several mistakes were made, including taxation on rollover. Only two remained, but over time, the regulatory authority fine-tuned its strategy and today it makes commercial sense for operators to seek their licenses in Portugal,” he exemplifies.
The non-contemplation of online gambling in the Provisional Measure is also a concern for the sector, and Thomas Carvalhaes says he hopes that the other verticals will be contemplated in the future.
“The PM concerns only fixed-quota bets, which is an important vertical, but this further aggravates the concern about the cost of the grant itself and taxation. It might even have made commercial sense if the other verticals had been included. It would still be a high cost, but it would make more sense,” analyzed Carvalhaes. “The account does not close,” he reinforced.
Asked if the Chamber of Deputies could stop approving the PM for it to lapse and launch a Bill covering other types of games, Carvalhaes said that this possibility exists. “A political game enters the field and anything can happen. There will be many debates and many changes will happen.”
From a practical point of view, the director of Vaidebob said that the company will conform to the government's conditions and directives. “Obviously we will continue to speak up about our concerns. We will respect and we will not operate on the black market. We will apply for the license as soon as the registration is made available,” he concluded.
Source: Exclusive GMB
