The Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva administration introduced a provisional decree in July to regulate sports betting in Brazil, a multibillion-dollar market that has operated in a legal gray area for years in the country. The legislation amends a 2018 law on the same subject, which experts say did not take into account the idiosyncrasies of the Brazilian market.
At the same time, Congress is debating a bill that would establish rules for the sports betting sector. The bill was approved by the lower house last week and will soon be considered by the Senate.
While public lotteries are legal in Brazil, most forms of gambling are not. Casinos were famously banned in 1946 by conservative President Eurico Gaspar Dutra, years after a sort of golden age when these establishments were high-society affairs with headline concerts from artists such as Carmen Miranda. In 2018, the government of Michel Temer issued a decree that permitted sports betting as a new form of lottery. However, regulation remained pending.
Tiago Gomes, partner at law firm Ambiel Advogados and an expert in gaming and betting regulation, tells The Brazilian Report that the provisional decree concerns more practical aspects of the law and is a “clear signal that the market is now moving and will be regulated.”
“There was a great deal of uncertainty due to the 2018 law, which mentioned regulation but did not have much impact within the government,” he adds.
The government’s efforts to regulate betting are justified by the size of the sports betting industry in the country today. “Brazil is one of the main betting markets in the world and the largest in Latin America. There are studies that indicate that about 20 million Brazilians gamble today,” says Filipe Senna, a partner at the law firm Jantalia Advogados and an expert in gambling law.
A recent survey showed that 25 percent of Brazilians have wagered money on a sports betting app at least...
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