Brazil Population 212.6 million
Economic and Political Outlook Jair Bolsonaro, the far-right leader and former army captain, is trailing former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva by almost 15 percentage points in the polls. Bolsonaro won the last election in a landslide and was widely tipped to win a second term in office. But an uneven economic recovery, a disastrous handling of the pandemic plus high inflation is hitting Brazilian households hard. Elected on the promise of pro-market reforms, few have passed Congress and the unemployment rate stands at 13 per cent.
Sports Betting Crucially this year is an election year and with the Presidential elections looming it looks increasingly likely that lawmakers will use delaying tactics to keep gambling legislation in limbo. Evangelical leaders have repeatedly come out against any liberalisation of the market and even warned that Bolsonaro’s support base would crumble if casinos are given the go ahead under his administration.
Sports betting legislation has been pending now for over four years. In December 2018, President Michel Temer signed Bill 846/2018 into law to regulate land- based and interactive sportsbetting. Te Ministry of Finance was granted two years to establish a regulatory framework to govern the market and provide for licences. Te draft of the presidential decree to regulate the sports betting market in Brazil had been scheduled to become law on May 10, once signed by the President.
However, the decree was delayed after Bolsonaro held a meeting with conservative legislator Marco Feliciano. Feliciano said that he had convinced Jair Bolsonaro as the practice went against the evangelical faith and would pave the way for the opening up of land based casinos.
Land-based Regulatory Update Currently there are two bills both of which would allow for a major expansion of the gaming industry: one in the Senate and the other in the House of Deputies. However, it is the bill that originated in the House of Deputies which has gained the most traction and is now up for debate in the Senate.
Te legislative process in Brazil means that a bill can originate in either house. Once passed it goes to the other house where it can be rejected, approved or amended and then returned to the “Originating House.” It is then forwarded for the presidential sanction or veto.
Bolsonaro has already announced that he would veto the bill but this veto can be overturned. If it is approved, the final text of PL 442/91 will replace as many as 20 other gambling related projects all of which have
been discussed over many years. According to the text, casinos may be installed in resorts as part of an integrated leisure complex.
Tere may be three casinos when the state’s population is greater than 25 million. For states with more than 15 million and up to 25 million inhabitants, there may be two casinos. In other states and in the Federal District, with a population of up to 15 million inhabitants, there may be only one casino.
Additionally, the Executive Branch may grant the operation of up to two establishments in leisure complexes in states measuring more than 1 million square km in size.
In locations classified as tourist centres or destinations, the installation of a casino will be allowed, regardless of the population density of the state in which they are located.
Te law also permits municipalities and the Federal District to licence bingo halls. Bingo halls will also be allowed in stadiums with a capacity of over 15 thousand fans. Online gambling would also be permitted although the bill covers online gambling in very general terms.
Meanwhile, most states are going ahead and legalising their own state lotteries and sports betting.
In September 2020, the Supreme Court of Brazil (STF) ruled that the federal government's lottery monopoly was unconstitutional, paving the way for states to develop state lotteries for each of Brazil's 26 states and one federal district as long as they complied with federal regulations.
Land-based sports betting are categorised as “sports lotteries’ under Brazil’s latest sports betting laws. Te decision means that current operators can extend their offerings while states can begin to roll out their own lottery products within their own state borders.
Tere is also another highly significant pending decision that could allow for gambling. An appeal put forward to the STF argues that the 1941 Presidential decree which banned gambling as part of Brazil’s “Criminal Contravention Act,” violated principles laid out in the 1988 Constitution.
If the STF decides that the decree is unconstitutional, gambling will not be a misdemeanour anymore meaning that each state could use the STF’s decision to draw up its own gambling regulations.
P82 WIRE / PULSE / INSIGHT / REPORTS
BRAZIL
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