The vote on the bill that provides for the regulation of sports betting is on the official agenda of the Senate Sports Commission (CEsp). The resumption of the debate is scheduled for this Tuesday, 7th, from 2 pm, in an extraordinary meeting.
Description on the Federal Senate website
“Provides for the lottery modality called fixed-odd betting; amends Laws No. 5,768, of December 20, 1971, and 13,756, of December 12, 2018, and Provisional Measure No. 2,158-35, of August 24, 2001; revokes provisions of Decree-Law No. 204, of February 27, 1967; and takes other measures.
Rapporteur: Senator Romário
Report: For the approval of Bill nº 3626/2023 and Amendments nº 14-U, 48-U and 61, contrary to the other amendments and, also, with the three amendments it presents”.
According to Agência Senado, the matter is in constitutional urgency. Furthermore, the proposed matter is being assessed simultaneously by CEsp and CAE (Economic Affairs Commission).
Decisive moment for the proposal to regulate betting in Brazil
The first week of November tends to be decisive for the sector, once again, with the core of the discussion and voting in the Federal Senate.
The matter establishes, in principle, 18% taxation for sports betting companies (Bets) and online games (such as online casinos).
But behind the scenes, parliamentarians and rapporteurs are seeking flexibility in the grant rate for sports betting (from 18% to 12%).
The idea is to maintain 18% for other online games. However, there are those who defend the removal of online casinos, such as the CESP rapporteur, Romário.
It is worth noting that the proposal to regulate betting in Brazil began with a Provisional Measure, which was published in July this year, after 5 years of many discussions.
And now, recently, the Federal Government published Ordinance 1330, in the Official Gazette of the Union (DOU), establishing rules for the betting market in Brazil.
PL 3626/23 initially only addressed fixed-odd sports betting lotteries, which were introduced in Brazil by Law No. 13,756, of 2018.
According to this Law, the fixed-odd sports betting lottery is a betting system relating to real sports-themed events. Action defined at the time of placing the bet, how much the bettor can win if the prediction is correct.
During the processing of PL 3626/23 in the Chamber, a provision was included in its text that will also allow the operation of online casinos. This issue can now be reviewed in the Senate.
Ordinance
Regarding the content of the Ordinance, Tiago Gomes, partner at Ambiel Advogados and specialist in Gaming and Betting Regulation, draws attention to two specific regulations: the first is the requirement that companies have their call center in Brazil.
This obligation alone will generate at least 10 thousand new direct – and immediate – jobs in the country, according to data from the lawyer.
“It is a significant number and a positive message that the betting industry needs to send to society: with regulation, it is not only taxes that will be collected, but there will be generation of jobs and income in the country”, argues Gomes.
The second rule that draws attention is the one that deals with the “Expression of Interest” (provided for in articles 26 to 29 of Ordinance 1330), which is not binding. But it guarantees those companies that present this manifestation within a period of up to 30 days from the publication of the Ordinance.
In other words, until November 28th, they will have priority in processing their license requests by the Ministry of Finance.
“The measure is interesting, because it will give the Government a good idea of the number of people interested in the market. And, assuming that there is a considerable number of interested parties, I believe that this could serve as an additional incentive for the Chamber to quickly vote on any changes proposed by the Senate”, he added.
