Witoldo said that a few years ago, when he went to London's ICE, his first contact with gaming activity occurred at a time when the industry was still viewed with a lot of resistance. “Today, everything has changed, and the regulation of the activity has been welcomed and treated from the point of view of economic development in Brazil. Nowadays, we see on the jerseys of the major football clubs brands of betting sites around the world, which demonstrates the breadth of the activity,” he commented to justify the creation of an association dedicated to serving and fighting for the rights of the sector, the Abra Jogo Online.
For Hendrich Jr., "all of this brings us to this panel, as legalizing sports betting concerns everything we've done so far and will open the prospects for new frontiers after the regulation." According to Witoldo, all sectors of the economy must wake up to the importance of regulating all gaming modes.
Then, Magnho José stressed that the two bills in the National Congress are ready to be voted, one in the Chamber of Deputies and one in the Senate. “There is a dispute in Congress over one project or another, but as an entity, the Legal Gaming Institute defends all gaming activities in Brazil. As there is a strong trend in Brasilia for the approval only of casinos in integrated resorts, there is still no consensus on which project model will move forward.”
According to him, “currently, the Brazilian non-legalized gambling market is worth around US$ 6 billion, and we hope that as soon as possible, by 2020, it will be defined which project will vote so that the country can enter the international market of legalized gaming.”
Pollock said that regulated gambling has been around for many years, but only in the last 18 or 24 months have major discussions become part of the daily lives of lawmakers in many jurisdictions around the world. “This is very clear from the industry's interest in the economic strength it represents. In the United States, sports betting is a small portion of the full range of activities. Sports betting was one way of attracting the younger generation to casinos, which until then had not been attracted to these types of establishments. It was thanks to sports betting that the doors were opened for this portion of players,” he explained.
The deputy Moacir Rodrigues, from Paraíba state, presented himself as the biggest advocate of the release of gaming in all its modalities in the state. “We have the biggest São João party in the world, in Campina Grande, where the jogo do bicho and poker tournaments take place, for example. So, it is hypocritical not to definitely approve all gaming in Brazil.” According to him, “the start of the sports betting operation will call the media to cover this activity and certainly other gaming modalities will be perceived as part of an economic structure responsible for jobs and taxes.”
After these initial considerations, Witoldo proposed to Michael to discuss the issue of gaming taxation, who explained that in the United States, for example, the amount of revenue is not estimated from the tax amount itself, but over the whole amount of tax dynamics of everything that revolves around gaming itself. The tax cannot have an impact on the legal market to the point of making the business unfeasible.”
Magnho José said that several researches show that society's support for the approval of gaming has been growing and that there is no reason not to meet the wishes of the population. “A possible political distress for the approval of all modalities is the same as that for the approval of an isolated activity. We have to get rid of this fear and go for the approval of a strong sector with great economic impact for the country and already approved by society,” he said, noting that he does not believe that any more votes will happen this year. "In February the discussions will return to Congress and we should come together to avoid approval of only integrated casinos, reaching all gaming activities."
Rep. Moacir Rodrigues agreed with Magno and said that “the approval of the gaming sector will generate over one million jobs, which is of great interest to Economy Minister Paulo Guedes and President Jair Bolsonaro.”
For Pollock, "Brazil should seek approval of all activities, so that the country grows in an orderly manner in all areas that the gaming allows."
Witoldo was asked about the possibilities of approving projects that favor national companies. “We must do it, but we must respect the specialization of foreign companies and their entry into the country. To demonize a company just because it is not Brazilian is not to defend the gaming industry as a whole. Brazil is a large market and should be served by both competent Brazilian companies and foreign ones. Competition will be very welcome for the industry and for society,” he said.
Source: GMB
