Brazil Gambling Market
There have been numerous changes regarding the gambling laws in Brazil throughout the country’s history. At one point, Brazil supported land-based gambling and even sported one of the biggest casinos in the entire South and Central America.
In addition, they passed the Zico Law in 1993, which allowed establishments to install electronic gaming machines. Unfortunately, neither of these forms of gambling managed to survive for a long time as new bills and laws quickly made all forms of gambling in Brazil illegal again.
Currently, Brazilians can enjoy betting on horse races and playing the lottery while betting on games of chance is illegal in Brazil. Interestingly, since poker is classified as a game of skill, this interpretation of the law allowed it to pass through the cracks, meaning that players can play it legally.
Perhaps it is precisely the interpretation of the law that hides the key to the future of gambling in Brazil. Namely, the current federal gambling law dates back to 1941 and is set for an update.
Gambling Laws in Brazil (Population: 200.4 million) Having crossed the 200 million mark in terms of population, Brazil is the 5th largest country in the world by that metric, and by far the leader within Latin America. Why Brazil can be the biggest gambling market in the world Miguel Quesada, business development and reactivation manager at online casino brand Mr Green, says Brazil has the potential to be the biggest regulated market in the world by tapping into its rich demographics and learning from the experiences of other jurisdictions.
At the same time, millions of Brazilians continuously gamble in unregulated markets, which is costing the country millions of dollars every year. Also, that is one of the main reasons why casino operators and members of the Central block of the federal Chamber of Deputies are pressing the issue and hoping for gambling to become legal in Brazil.
Unfortunately for them, the future of gambling in Brazil rests in the hands of evangelical Christian legislators, and, needless to say, they aren’t keen to green-light something they consider to be a sin.
- With two of the top names in the sports’ history, an obvious first-tier gambling market in Brazil is soccer – or futbol, as they call it. Other significant outlets include lottery games (particularly one by the name of Jogo de bicho), horse and dog (yes!) racing, and, recently, poker. Stats, Facts and Figures.
- Brazil’s gambling market could be fully legalised by next year, despite setbacks in the country’s legislature. Gambling regulation has eluded the country since it outright banned almost all forms of gambling in the 1940s. Today, only betting on horse races, state-owned lotteries and poker are permitted.
However, members of the block continue to urge Brazil’s president, Jair Bolsonaro, to authorise casino gambling. While Bolsonaro is opposed to gambling, he also thinks the decision regarding gambling in his country should be left to Brazilian states. In his opinion, they should be the ones to decide whether brick-and-mortar casinos should be accepted or not.
Some of the most popular tourist destinations in Brazil are Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo. Even though the mayor of Rio de Janeiro, Marcelo Crivella, is an evangelical bishop, he isn’t opposed to the idea of allowing a casino to be built within the borders of his city.
However, there’s a catch — the gambling area would only be available to international tourists. When it comes to São Paulo, the Secretary of Tourism said that he is looking forward to seeing the economic possibilities and development casinos could bring.
Government officials aren’t the only ones looking forward to the opportunities the legalisation of casino gambling could bring to the table. Boss of Las Vegas Sands, Sheldon Adelson, made his intentions clear and met with Brazilian officials in Nevada, as well as Brazil, to talk about new business opportunities. Adelson had initially planned to invest around $8 billion in a casino resort in Rio, but he could easily end up spending around $15 billion on resorts in Rio and São Paulo
Furthermore, Brazil is not losing tax revenue income from land-based casinos only, but online ones too. Since the current gambling law comes from 1941, it only covers land-based gambling and doesn’t have even the slightest mention of online gambling. In other words, operators aren’t allowed to run online casinos from within the borders of Brazil, but the players from Brazil are able to join online casinos anywhere across the world.
Brazil Online Gambling Market
Namely, online gambling in Brazil isn’t legal but it isn’t illegal either since there are no laws that regulate the market. Instead of restricting Brazilian casino players’ access, as they do with American players, numerous online casinos outside of Brazil have seized the opportunity and now accept players from Brazil.
While we are positive that the evangelical wing has only the best intentions in their hearts, their decision has numerous adverse effects on the country. In addition to losing money by not taxing the players, the country is missing out on an opportunity to create a lot more job openings for the residents of this South American country by legalising online and land-based casinos.
Moreover, Brazil already has millions of casino enthusiasts who often play in unregulated markets despite the current laws or religion, which is why we have to wonder if it is better for the country to tax the players instead of restricting their access to casinos and have someone else profit from it.
After all is said and done, legalizing gambling could be a big step forward for Brazil’s economy and the gambling industry. The decision to regulate the market would be a win-win situation for both the country and casino operators who eagerly await the day when casino gambling is going to become legal in Brazil.
Many Latin American countries are currently toying with the idea of legalizing gambling for the very first time, or regulating their online gambling markets in order to provide better protection and freedoms for their citizens. While the potential for the gambling industry is great across much of Central and South America, Brazil could prove to be a particularly profitable country for the gambling industry.
Currently, gambling is almost completely illegal in the vast country of 207.8 million people, and has been since the 1940s. While Brazilian lawmakers have been trying to bring back casino gambling and other forms of gambling for more than 25 years, the country now finally seems to be on the verge of doing so successfully. As gambling analyst Alexandre Fonseca commented last year:
“If you ask me what are the odds of Brazil becoming a global gaming destination within the next five to 10 years, I would say they are quite high.”
Bill PLS 186/2014
The National Congress, the legislative body in Brazil, has been hard at work proposing legislation to expand gambling in the country. The Senate has drafted one especially promising bill, PLS 186/2014, which would allow for land-based and online casinos to open for business in Brazil under licenses issued by the government. In addition, the law would legalize bingo halls, sports betting parlors and a popular lottery style game called jogo do bicho.
According to the original version of the bill, the government would issue a total of 35 casino licenses with a maximum of 70,000 slot machines throughout the country, with all licensees required to offer restaurants and retail stores, in addition to their gambling facilities. Bingo halls would also be permitted at a ratio of one license per every 150,000 people in any particular city or municipality, while internet gambling would be legalized, regulated, and taxed accordingly.
PLS 186/2014 received plenty of attention during 2016 when lawmakers openly debated it on the floor of the Senate, with the Special Committee for National Development eventually passing the bill. However, it was never brought to a full vote in the Brazilian Senate, and unfortunately, 2016 closed out without the bill becoming law, meaning that Brazil will need to start fresh in 2017.
Considerable Opposition
Those familiar with politics in the country report that while there is major support for legalizing gambling, there is also considerable opposition. Some lawmakers argue that legalizing gambling would only lead to people who are already living in poverty falling deeper into despair and that incidences in gambling addiction would increase to unbearable levels.
Brazil Gambling Market Size
“It’s very easy to think about taxes going to the public coffers. It’s forgetting how many families will lose, will be destroyed by those who.. take everything they have and play at the casinos,” warns Congress member Pastor Francisco Eurico da Silva.
These arguments are familiar and have been heard time and time again while other countries have moved forward with gambling regulation laws.
$17.6 Billion Industry
Currently, it is believed that Brazilians spend more than $6.4 billion on illegal gambling every year. Legalizing gambling in Brazil would mean that this money was fairly taxed and that national and local governments would have a steady source of revenue to support social programs and fund other line items in their budgets. This would be a major win for the country that has been financially strapped for some time.
Industry analysts believe that once gambling is regulated and legalized, Brazilians could potentially spend $17.6 billion on gambling every year. With Rio de Janeiro being a major vacation destination, tourist dollars would boost that figure even further. With over 200 million people in Brazil, legalization would make it the largest regulated gambling jurisdiction in the world. Sports betting would likely be one of the most popular forms of gambling due to the country’s love for soccer; however, industry analysts think that casinos could also do well in many parts of the country.
The industry would also help provide employment for tens of thousands of Brazilians across the country, as back in 1946 when the industry was shut down around 40,000 Brazilians suddenly found themselves without work. Furthermore, money spent by Brazilians would stay within their own country, rather than in places such as neighboring Argentina which has been a major beneficiary of Brazil’s lack of gambling legislation.