Brazilian Sports Betting Legislation Remains in Limbo

Outgoing President Jair Bolsonaro has failed to sign the decree that would have enacted into law a bill for the country's billion-dollar grey gaming market. The deadline for signing the bill was either Monday or Tuesday. It is not yet published. Brazilians are currently allowed to place bets via offshore sportsbooks licensed in foreign jurisdictions without any penalty or tax liability. Several major operators take in hundreds of millions of dollars of sports bets each from Brazilian customers. If Brazil's gaming industry is legalized, many of the world's largest sportsbook operators would be prepared to compete for a share of South America's multi-billion dollar betting market, according to André Gelfi, Managing Partner of Betsson.

The Brazilian Sports Betting Legislation is in legal limbo. The new president-elect, Lula da Silva, will probably sign off on an amended version of the bill. Felipe Carreras, who sits in the Brazilian Chamber of Deputies, was one of its original authors. Edinho Silva's comments suggest that the incoming administration will use the expected sportsbook revenues to finance social welfare programs.

The failure to enact the sports betting legislation has cost the Brazilian government millions of dollars in lost tax revenue. Brazil is the western world's largest untapped betting market. The 2022 FIFA World Cup took place in Brazil. If the law was in place for the World Cups, the country would have collected R$3 billion in tax revenues and R $376 million from the sale of operating licenses.