Once again, the vote to legalize physical casinos, bingo, Jogo de Bicho and betting on horse races in Brazil will be postponed.
The August date was not met and voting was scheduled for October, after the first round of municipal elections at the beginning of the month. However, it appears that this will not happen.
Legalization of casinos could generate billions of reais
Senator Irajá (PSD-TO), rapporteur of the casino bill, said: “We are waiting for things to calm down a little, but I am convinced that this year we will approve the bill. We already have the necessary votes, we have convinced the senators, at least the majority”.
Irajá made the comments at a business event in São Paulo on October 18. He said he has been communicating regularly with Senate President Rodrigo Pacheco and both believe the political climate is not conducive to a vote on land-based casinos.
It is estimated that the approval of PL 2,234/2022 could generate approximately R$20 billion in revenue per year.
Those in the land-based casino sector believe this is the right time to approve the proposal. Alex Pariente, corporate senior vice president of casino and hotel operations at Hard Rock International, said in September that he expected the industry to “see results very soon.”
“The debate has been very intense. I myself have been in the Senate a few times and I think it is very healthy for this to happen before we take more concrete measures. However, I am optimistic and I think we will see results very soon.”
Regulation of sports betting and online gaming
But the Brazilian government has been particularly busy in recent weeks. The expectation now is for the launch of the licensed online betting market on January 1, 2025.
There has been much debate over the regulation of online betting in the country, with politicians and public figures warning about the impact betting can have on vulnerable groups, including the elderly and those receiving state social benefits.
Therefore, President Lula must speak publicly on these issues and several other bills presented in the coming weeks.
The Prizes and Betting Secretariat (SPA) published a list of more than 2,000 operator domains that did not request a license by the deadline of September 30th.
But among the sites on the list are Paddypower.com, from Flutter, and the brands Bwin.com, Partypoker.com and Ladbrokes.com, from Entain. After all, both companies have applied for licenses for other brands.
Furthermore, the media portal, Yogonet, was mistakenly taken offline. Days later and after contact with the Prizes and Betting Secretariat, operations were normalized.
This week, the Ministry of Treasury published an updated version of the list of companies authorized to operate until December, totaling 100 groups and 223 betting sites.