Interested in building hotel complexes and casinos with billionaire investments, these and other companies do not give up on setbacks like the one that occurred on March 7, when the Senate Committee on Constitution and Justice (CCJ) rejected bill 186. The text can still go to Plenary and be approved.
For Jan Blackhurst, Caesars senior manager, the decision of the CCJ is frustrating, but it does not kill the hope that Brazil will one day legalize the activity. "The theme is complex. Making laws takes time. Brazil remains an interesting potential market," says Blackhurst, who was once a mayor of Las Vegas.
Alan Feldman, vice president of MGM Resorts, also says he will not take his eyes off the country.
The lobby of the big resorts is pushing for a less comprehensive legislation, in other words, that it does not release the local popular jogo do bicho and slot machines, as has been discussed in Congress in recent years.
For these groups, it is enough that the casinos integrated to hotels are allowed, because it is in the rooms, concerts, fairs and business events where a large part of their revenue comes from.
The idea is to attract tourism from professionals who visit conventions and fairs, according to Fabio Kujawski, a partner at the Mattos Filho office, who accompanies the subject. "It's no wonder that bills have minimal requirements for hotel, entertainment and business infrastructure. In several countries that have regulated the casino installation, there has been a requirement for number of rooms, restaurants, concert halls," says Kujawski.
Brazil, however, would not have a Las Vegas. Even if the law freed up more developments, there would be demand for just over three large complexes, such as those of extravagant architecture seen in the American city and also in Macau, according to attorney Luiz Felipe Maia, an industry expert. With an investment of about US$ 3 billion in each project, the total contribution would exceed US$ 10 billion, he says.
"There is market potential in São Paulo, Rio and Northeast. It needs an airport infrastructure." It all depends on how the legislation will come. If it appeals to multinationals, the investment grows.
In Singapore, Sands invested US$ 6 billion in a complex with a suspended pool on the roof.
The president of Portuguese Casino Estoril, Mário Ferreira, recalls that Las Vegas started as a simple gaming pole and gained vocation for other services to each new generation of casinos.
"It was in the last decade that Las Vegas developed its business tourism, its gastronomy and major convention centers," says Magno Sousa, of the Legal Game Institute, who supports the cause.
The city is the main destination for conferences, with 22,000 meetings and conventions a year. In 2016, it received a record 42.9 million visitors, according to the local tourism promotion office.
Among the voices against the legalization of gaming, the concern is the weak return of taxes to the country and the risk of favoring both money laundering and addiction. "What will be collected is little in relation to the size of the state apparatus that would be necessary to curb illicit," says Floriano Sá Neto, president of Anfip (Revenue Audit Association).
Source: GMB / Folha do Sao Paulo
