GMB - How do you evaluate the current situation of the gaming market in Brazil after the legalization of sports betting?
Olavo Sales da Silveira - About the moment, although my vision today is in the direction that the government wants to make some concessions of operations in the lottery area and even in sports betting, but it does not want to commit to the need of an infrastructure, big or not, to control the activity. So, they are prioritizing to give these operations to only a few companies. And when they do this, they do expect to grant, for example, a license for LOTEX. And of course one or two companies will appear, they will end up doing a consortium and today there is only one customer to buy LOTEX. This impacts very heavily on the value of the operation.
We know that the interest of the government in relation to privatizing the sports betting operation, with the learning of LOTEX, has already been placed a competitive approach. But the number projected excludes national capital and national business. We, as a national entity that represents interests of Brazilians, while the operations that are being bid are not of a size in which Brazilians can participate, we remain orphans of space to operate in the gaming market.
About PM 846, do you believe that it went through a different process from the one we usually see at the Congress and so it was approved with a certain speed?
I believe there have been a number of factors. This was a study that areas of the Finance Ministry were already working as the second area to be addressed; the first was LOTEX and the second was sports betting. I would say that the unfolding of LOTEX was being transferred and postponed because of a series of adjustments and even because of legal uncertainty and delayed the placing of the LOTEX product on the market. So it seems to me that on the government agenda there was an expectation that it was time to put sports betting on the table. And I think it was a very good approach, the destination of the resource to address an area that the whole of Brazil sees as lacking governmental initiative; and this combined efforts to accelerate the process.
In your opinion, what is the strength of the sports betting modality to boost the regulation of other gaming activities such as bingo, which today is not moving forward?
We at ABRABINCS, as Brazilian Association of Bingos, Casinos and Similares, understand that our interest is diversified in terms of gaming modalities. What we defend are modalities that can be practiced with a reasonable investment and within reach of Brazilian entrepreneurs. Because the operations that are spoken here, such as casino resorts, are investments of 3 or 5 billion. Anyone who has 3 or 5 billion to invest only applies to this operation if they have control and expertise. As gaming is not allowed in Brazil, nobody here has this expertise. Who has the money, has no expertise. And who has expertise at stake, does not have the capital to do so. So I see the Brazilians out of this future big business.
Therefore, I advocate the resort casino as an option for a few operations; and the urban casino as an activity that can give access to the Brazilian businessmen in several municipalities that have a tourist vocation and conditions to have that kind of casino, as the primary focus of our intentions.
Bingo, I would say, being a micro-activity will require a structure that the government will need before funding to assemble it; and this would be at a time when we had a gaming agency and everything leads to believe that this is not how we will begin with the control of the activity.
ABRABINCS was present at recent OGS in early December. What is your assessment of the event?
I believe that events of this nature are of high importance so that the market and the authorities are always reminded that there is a very large market with the capacity to generate jobs, income and fun, and that they can not neglect the regulation of that market. So, the first thing I see is that these events bring up, keeping in evidence the kind of care the authorities must have.
What is your expectation of new Jair Bolsonaro government regarding the legalization of gamingy? What dangers does Brazil face if it can not regulate the activity?
At a time when gaming is viewed as a regulated economic activity in 80% of the UN's member countries including all emerging countries of the G20 group, to think about non-regulation is to tread down a path of misinformation. In the whole world gaming is a regulated activity aimed at generating tributes under the cloak of the law and operated by entrepreneurs. In Brazil it is an activity operated by illegal groups, with the so-called red command advancing over unregulated areas. When will the activity be taken out of the hands of offenders and criminals? Because the romantic jogo do bicho is also being attacked by those groups. And they will rather use any activity like gaming, which has the potential to generate results to finance their other illegal purposes. So, I find it very dangerous, even from a security point of view, not to regulate the gaming mrket in Brazil.
Source: Exclusive GMB
