"Sports betting is strategic for Brazil today."

“Latin America has a total population of 569 million people, and Brazil alone accounts for 210 million, representing a large percentage of the region's market. Today, Brazil has 63% of its economically active population, about 132 million people, and for them, it offers extremely outdated and inadequate legislation in the gaming and betting segment,” said Magnho José, president of the Brazilian Institute of Legal Gaming, at the opening of the event.

After an extensive overview of the historical and current state of gambling in the local market, Magnho invited Altair Mendanha, General Coordinator of the Lottery area, to analyze the situation of sports betting, which was recently included in the government's PPI (privatization plan). Mendanha assured that the inclusion of fixed-rate betting in the PPI gives the topic "a character of strategic interest for the government" and makes it a national priority project.

“The project will now be treated with a different perspective, with a different level of importance at the national level,” emphasized the government representative, who assured that until now it was a subject that was not seen as “mature for Brazil, but now we can analyze it from a more serious perspective, we are open to international experience and we are seeking the best regulation for all sectors that make up this business, both for the operator and the bettor.”

When questioned about this process and the role of certification laboratories in regulation, Karen Sierra-Hughes assured that it is very important to consider certification not only from a technical standpoint, but also from a legal and financial perspective, since one of the main arguments against the industry at the regional level is its connection to money laundering. “Regulation seeks to protect bettors, ensure fair play and market integrity, and generate revenue for the government; therefore, it is important that the regulatory process takes into account the background of operators and suppliers, thus offering transparency and security to the process itself,” she emphasized.

Luis Felipe Maia added that, in his opinion, to guarantee foreign investment in this process, it is necessary to provide legal certainty "and that the State, when regulating, speaks to and understands the investor, takes into account the purpose of this investment and, thus, achieves the best process for society, for the government itself and for the private investors who participate in this business."

When asked about the number of licenses that sports betting regulations should offer, JD Duarte considered that "Brazil is a very large country and should not limit the number of licensing companies that wish to operate this type of betting: it is the customer who decides which company they want to play with."

“I think there is room for many operators, and the central point should always be the customer, and if too many limitations are imposed that will allow the proliferation of illegal gambling, that would be a mistake,” added the CEO of Betcris.

“It seems to me that this law wasn’t designed specifically for sports betting, but for the lottery market,” said Peter Nolte, CEO of Salsa Technology. “This is concerning because it limits payouts and creates confusion about the concept of sports betting. It’s very complex to set odds and offer a truly competitive product. And I think this law should be analyzed and modified, thinking more specifically about the format of sports betting and how this market works internationally, to ensure the best offer for the bettor and a more predictable and reasonable business for operators.”

Bruno Omori, in his presentation, addressed the issue of regulating physical casinos, another pending point in the comprehensive regulation of gambling in Brazil. Considering the conflict between two different opening models (one that seeks broader regulation of betting and gaming rooms, versus another that intends to open only casinos in integrated resorts), Omori considered that the best model is the one that offers a broader market, since "the more open and broad the market, the greater the opportunity for growth. We estimate that, if this sector is broadly regulated, it could reach an investment of US$70 billion between residents and foreigners, which would boost not only tourism but also the entire Brazilian economy."

"The game can be a macroeconomic policy of reactivation, exchange rate gains, job creation, taxes and productive factors that are very important today to recover the country from the pandemic," Omori added.

Later, JD Duarte compared Brazil's situation to what happened in Costa Rica, where legislation did not allow for the satisfactory development of sports betting, and bettors turned more to the offshore market. In this sense, the CEO of Betcris considered that “for Brazil to solve the issue of illegal gambling, it must offer a competitive market for legal operators. If licensed operators offer lower betting odds due to the incidence of high taxes, illegal operators are the ones who benefit. The same is true if only sports betting is offered and the same operator is not authorized to offer online casino games or other games. Therefore, if the high cost of market entry influences the decision, if taxes are excessive, and if the supply of products that can be offered legally is limited, competition against illegal gambling is very difficult, and these points should be analyzed by the authorities when legislating and regulating the market.”

Near the close, Nolte commented that the regulation of betting should partly focus on issues such as technological advancements available in the market, to avoid premature obsolescence of the legislation itself, and considered that legislating on changes and advancements in the gambling market is a mandatory topic in the area, due to the coronavirus pandemic and how it has influenced society. According to the CEO, the sector was forced to advance in just 100 days on changes that would have taken years to adapt to, and today the authorities must take note of all this to offer regulations in accordance with the realities experienced in all countries of the world.

At the close, the organizers thanked viewers for the discussion, and according to reports from minutes after the event ended, the numbers indicate that the broadcast had 2.374 live views, a peak of 178 people present at the same time, and 29.294 minutes of total live viewing time. (Information from Yogonet.com )