The Lula (PT) government still does not know how much it will raise with authorizations for companies that want to explore fixed-odd sports betting, known as bets, in 2024.
But, after market regulation at the end of last year, this was a source of extra revenue foreseen by the Ministries of Finance and Planning and Budget for this year.
Sports betting revenue for 2025
This year, companies with approved requests will pay the grants. The Treasury informed that the first presentation period ends in 90 days, starting at the end of May and then lasting until the end of August.
Therefore, according to the Ministry of Finance, it is not possible, at this time, to make any forecast about revenue.
Thus, when the rule was approved, the estimate was that at least R$5 billion would be raised with these authorizations. This could provide relief to public coffers in the year in which the government aims for a zero fiscal deficit.
The ministry denied having made revenue forecasts for next year, when it will begin collecting taxes and social allocations.
The regulated market will begin operating on January 1, 2025. Therefore, the expectation is that, next year, the government will be able to have a clearer vision of the amount that will be collected.
However, parliamentarians are complaining about the pace at which the government has been following to regulate the market. Senator Angelo Coronel (PSD-BA), who reported the project that gave rise to the law, considered that there has been “slowness” in the collection of grants for operating licenses.
“It’s been slow. If the government wants money, we approve the bets in December [2023]. It’s been four months, and there is no position to make this demand”, criticized the PSD senator in an interview last month past.
Revenue expectation
In any case, there is a lot of expectation and uncertainty surrounding the values that will be obtained from the regulation of sports betting. Collection is a crucial point for balancing public accounts and achieving zero fiscal deficit, one of the government’s goals for this year.
Therefore, the regulation of fixed odds betting is a government effort to increase revenue and alleviate public coffers. Thus, 2025 appears to be a decisive year for the government to increase its revenue.