Online Gaming in Brazil: Battle Has Just Begun

The movement towards online gambling in Brazil has been has been initiated, but completion still looks to be far off. While the Senate has opened the floor for discussion, the actual bureaucratic process by which online gambling can be regulated stands to take up to several years.

Early Optimism Requires Patience

Optimism regarding online gambling in Brazil spiked when Senator Ciro Nogueira's draft of an online gaming bill was introduced to the Brazilian Senate in July. Nogueira drafted the bill as an acknowledgment of the impossibility of eliminating all gambling activity in the country outright, asserting that "a prohibitive approach to gambling does not work, as the truth is that no one will ever give up playing only because that is forbidden."

Nogueira seeks regulation to establish the benefits of ongoing gambling activity in Brazil, pointing out that “...current anti-gambling legislation did not stop gambling in Brazil, and today's clandestine market moves more than R$18 billion (approximately $8 billion) every year.”

Noguiera seeks to set up a system of regulation that could generate huge tax revenues for the government, at annual levels estimated by related research to be upwards of R$15 billion ($6.8 billion).

The Senate's Commission for Regional Development and Tourism considered Nogueira's proposal for the first time last last week, opening the door for more debate.

The Bureaucratic Process

From a bureaucratic point of view, the Brazilian review process can get quite complicated, if not convoluted, as different clauses in the proposal may require the passage of additional bills addressing those specific points and making them legal.

The Brazilian review process is multi-tiered as well: after review by the Senatorial Commission for Regional Development and Tourism, the bill must pass through the Brazilian Commission for Science, Technology, Innovation, Communication and IT; and then the Commission for Economic Affairs; then, the Commission for the Constitution, Justice and Citizenship.

Only after can the bill then be presented to the country's President for sanction, with the President empowered to make an executive decision that could go either way.

A lot of variables, and a lot of red tape.