The main football clubs in Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo sent a letter to the federal government with proposals for the regulation of bookmakers in Brazil. In the document, the teams again positioned themselves against taxation if it does not expand the transfer to sports associations.
The organizations were open to dialogue with the Executive, but the lack of an agreement between the parties could generate opposition to the project. According to the document, without the football clubs, bettors would lose interest in the sector and everyone would be at a loss.
The letter was forwarded to the Minister of Finance, Fernando Haddad. The Poder360 website had access and disclosed that the document was signed by eight clubs: Botafogo, Corinthians, Flamengo, Fluminense, Palmeiras, Santos, São Paulo and Vasco da Gama.
Clubs request:
- remuneration of 5.01% on the gross revenue of bookmakers;
- direct payment to the clubs, without the intermediation of the CBF or other entities;
- amount transferred proportionally to the volume of bets on each team’s matches;
- CBF would receive only for games played by the Brazilian teams, not for organized competitions.
“Even if the need to regulate economic activities is understood, as a way of maintaining economic order and tax collection, this regulation must preserve the economic viability of the activity and safeguard the rights of the Clubs, under the risk of becoming unbalanced a sensitive financial structure that could have negative and even harmful effects on the activity”, says the document.
Proposed regulation of sports betting in Brazil
The practice of sports betting was legalized by Law 13,756 of 2018, sanctioned in December by Michel Temer. It defined a period of four years for the activity to be regularized, which did not happen in the government of Jair Bolsonaro.
The 2018 legislation established a 5% tax on GGR (Gross Gaming Revenue), with the revenue generated excluding ordinary taxes and prizes paid to gamblers. Of these 5%, 1.63% would be transferred to the clubs.
The federal government intends to charge BRL 30 million for a 5-year license, in addition to the 15% tax on the GGR. The remuneration to the clubs would continue at 1.63%. Teams do not accept. They ask that the rate also be tripled, to around 5%.
According to the Ministry of Finance, this increase would make the value jump from R$ 29.34 million to R$ 88.02 million, which would be divided among all clubs. The teams that signed the letter addressed to Haddad claimed, however, that they currently earn more than that amount by exploiting their image.
“The clubs currently earn a large part of their income through betting companies, either through direct sponsorship, or through licensing or assignment of use of brands”, the letter states.
