About Brazil - Updated December 24, 2023
Brazil, the sleeping giant of the gaming world, has a population of over 215 million people, making it the 6th largest country globally, the largest in LATAM and the 10th largest economy in the world. Legalized gaming legislation has been proposed multiple times creating great excitement for global operators but conflicting local interests have prevented legislative advancement.
- In 2017 Spectrum Gaming Capital estimated that land based casinos could generate $10B-$20B of GGR under then current proposed legislation, which means Brazil could be the world’s third largest casino market after the US and Macau
- Currently, the only form of legal betting in Brazil is lottery, but the country is set to regulate online gaming. In addition to a flourishing offshore iGaming and sports betting business, a popular numbers game called “Jogo Do Bicho” has been operated illegally throughout the country for decades.
- Efforts to establish Integrated Resorts have stalled due to competing entrenched interests with focus shifted to online gambling with legislation active and a sense of imminence.
- Lotteries are allowed to provide any types of games and how they proceed with versions of online sports betting and casinos games will provide a challenge to national commercial operators of online gaming.
Sports Betting and iGaming
- On December 22, Congress approved the government’s gambling bill enabling sports betting and online casino; next step is the president’s signature.
- This has been a very long time coming – sports betting was legalized on Dec. 12, 2018, with regulations to be developed within four years. The time frame expired with regulations still being debated as President Lula took office on January 1st, 2023; but the new president signed an amended bill in July, 2023.
- The Institute of Legal Gaming estimated that ~400 off-shore operators were operating in 2022, generating $2.6b/yr in GGR from iGaming and $5.8b/yr GGR in sports betting; according to “Legal Bet”, Brazilians have spent $6.9b on off-shore betting websites in the first half of 2023..
Details of the proposed law
- $R30m license fee for 5 years (£4.9m/€5.7m/$6.1m) for three betting apps
- Foreign operators are required to have a 20% Brazilian partner
- Operators will pay a 12% GGR tax
- Bettors will pay a 15% income tax on net winnings over R$2,112 ($428)
Lottery
- Until 2020, the federal government had a monopoly on lottery through National Operator CAIXA
- Lack of clarity about lottery law also contributed to the failure of the Lotex privatization process that ran from 2016 to 2019 which initially awarded the contract to a consortium that included IGT and Scientific Games
- In 2020 the Supreme Court ended the federal monopoly on lotteries which can operate any type of game including sports betting and igaming. Currently, Rio de Janeiro, Minas Gerais, Ceará, and the state of Paraná are operating some games and eleven other states are in the process of review.