Brazil interested in Online Gaming Regulation

Brazil has sat back and watched a number of other nations regulate online gaming in order to take advantage of the obvious revenue potential. And some of the country’s politicians are tired of sitting around watching all of the money that they’re losing to black market gaming sites. Senator Ciro Nogueira is one of these politicians and, today, he introduced a bill that would regulate Brazil’s internet gambling market and help them “comply with the rest of the world and boost the economy with new tax revenues.”

Nogueira describes his bill by writing that it will “legalize what today exists even if it is hidden, establish clear and objective requirements for those interested to explore the world of gambling, and at the same time contribute to the creation of thousands of workplaces.”

The Senator cites some interesting facts/statements in an effort to push his legislation through, including the following:

– Of the 193 of the United Nations, 75.52% of them have legalized internet gaming. Brazil is among the 24.48% minority that don’t have a regulated market.

– Of the 156 countries that are part of the World Tourism Organization, 71.16% of them have legal online gambling. He surmises that 75% of the countries that haven’t legalized the activity are Islamic and anti-gambling due to their “religious beliefs.”

– Nogueira believes that over 8.6 million Brazilians are playing at unregulated sites, with 6.6 million of these people playing online casino games and sports betting.

The bill calls for a regulatory system that’s akin to European countries like , Italy, Portugal and Spain, where there’s a state-controlled market that issues licenses. Those wanting to gain licensing need to meet technical, financial and taxation requirements set forth by the Brazilian government.

Nogueira believes that the current system of gambling “prohibition” has largely failed to stop unregulated online gaming sites. He stressed this point by writing:

The current anti-gambling legislation did not stop gambling in Brazil, and today’s clandestine market moves more than R$ 18bn. (approximately $8bn.) every year. According to some studies, if regulated, the gambling market could bring to the State new revenues for at least R$ 15bn. (approximately $6.8bn.) a year.

At this point, the online gaming legislation is only in the Senate’s Committee on Regional Tourism Development. If approved there, it will move on to several other committees for examination.