Legalized in December 2018, the activities of online betting companies (sports betting and online casino games) have come under intense collective attack in recent months. Coincidentally, this movement takes place in the final stretch of the implementation of the segment’s regulatory framework.
Since October 1st, only companies that have applied for a license with the Ministry of Treasury are authorized to operate until the end of the year. On January 1, 2025, only bookmakers duly authorized by the federal government will be able to operate and advertise in the national territory.
Addressing this topic, the opinion article “Does the collective hysteria against Bets make any sense?” was written by journalist Fernando Mello and published on the Poder360 portal last Sunday (13).
Specialist in crisis management and the sports industry and vice-president of the São Paulo Football Federation, Mello talks about the ‘sectoral image crisis’ and raises relevant questions.
Check out Fernando Mello’s text about the hysteria against the online betting sector:
“Brazil is truly a curious country. Precisely at the moment when it is regulating and seeking to rigorously control what exists in the country without any supervision for almost a decade, betting became overnight the biggest villains of health and safety. economy of Brazilians.
While the billion-dollar activity operated in the shadows, with headquarters in tax havens precisely because of the prohibition on establishing themselves here, words such as gambling addiction or gambling addiction did not appear in the press. As it was not a government issue, the problem was hidden under the carpet, as if it simply did not exist, without generating a cent in tax.
The government only had to establish clear rules, in detailed and competent work led by lawyer José Francisco Manssur at the Ministry of Finance, for the media to discover that sports or gambling games can be addictive.
It is the typical case of selective discovery that periodically plagues the media. At least 7 years ago, bets invaded TV, radio and newspapers, without any questions. You can count on one hand the journalists who took a stance against betting.
Before the widespread artillery organized by public opinion, Lula had his eye on the potential of R$3 billion in revenue. Now, Minister Fernando Haddad and the president himself say that there is an epidemic of gambling addicts and are concerned about something that is a global problem.
Here are some important questions:
- Did the government only see the ludopathy now?
- Wouldn’t the media also be responsible for the increase in the number of addicts due to the overexposure of bets?
- What will be the first press organization to make a mea culpa?
The hypocrisy is such that, every day, it is possible to find reports on major portals pointing out problems at betting houses flanked by advertisements for betting houses.
According to a survey by the newspaper Estado de S. Paulo released in March 2023 and replicated in a recent study by the Itaú bank, houses poured (or injected) R$3.5 billion into Brazilian football. As the study predates the entry (and exit) of Vai de Bet at Corinthians, which had a cascading inflationary effect on club advertising, the numbers in 2024 should exceed R$4 billion.
The sector’s first relevant sponsorship in Brazilian football was in December 2018, at Fortaleza. Without Jair Bolsonaro’s (PL) government acting to create clear rules, betting became the main source of sponsorship for Brazil’s greatest passion.
Among the 40 clubs in Series A and B of the Brazilian Championship, only Palmeiras and Cuiabá do not have a company in the industry. In the women’s category, however, Palmeiras has already joined. The 2 main CBF (Brazilian Football Confederation) championships have Betano as the naming rights holder.
Investment in communication vehicles also reached billions. According to Ibope Monitor, open TV concentrated 44% of the betting funds, with R$921.188 million. The total spent on media was more than R$2.071 billion in 2023, a number that will certainly increase in 2024.
A sectoral image crisis, as we know, does not happen by chance. There are enormous interests from banks, retail and other industries to curb the population’s spending on sports games. Money is one. The more a sector grows, the less there is for others.
It is clear that bets must review some concepts and effectively work to combat addiction. Today, technology allows account tracking and data crossing. It does not seem reasonable to me that Bolsa Família beneficiaries can use public resources to bet. Or that people with dirty names may see the illusion of easy money as a way to resolve their debts. Sports betting is entertainment, not a way to get rich.
Like every crisis, the betting crisis has an expiration date. Eventually, the subject gets tired. Companies that effectively support responsible gaming, eliminate vulnerable people from their bases, and adopt strict compliance and security rules will survive.
In the past, society’s enemies were cigarettes, beer, banks and construction companies. Tobacco still kills. Alcohol continues to destroy families, generating violence. Interest rates continue to leave billionaire bankers at the expense of millions of people’s misery. No one in their right mind can say that corruption in public works has disappeared. Only one thing has changed, the public opinion’s desire to destroy the current villain. The hysteria is over now.”
