They are present in so many places that it seems to be curious that they were banned until the end of last year. Simply turn on the television on paid sports channels, watch a football match or visit news sites that soon notice advertisements from various betting portals, much of them based in unconventional countries. And the prospect is about to increase. These sector, which are estimated to move US$ 1 billion per year in Brazil, were only allowed by law in December last year, and only await the regulation of the Ministry of Economy.
Approved by Congress in November and sanctioned by former President Michel Temer in the last month of 2018, Law No. 13,756 / 2018, which deals with the allocation of funds from lotteries, also brought another novelty. Named "fixed odds betting," sports games were framed in legislation, classified as a "betting system related to real sports events, where the bettor can win in case of hit of the prognosis."
New in the Brazilian legal framework, the modality, however, is traditional in several countries. The way in which bettors were shown the odds of each bet evolved in different ways depending on the region. The UK, to this day, is the heart of the segment. Only football betting accounts for about £ 1.5 billion a year, and bookmakers, which have emerged in the turf and since 1960 scattered around the streets, have hinted at just about anything.
Gradually, however, the focus of the bets was changing to the internet, where today lies the expectation of globalization of the sector. Attentive to the growth of the market, other countries began to enter the market. In Portugal, online betting was legalized in 2015. In the United States, the Supreme Court last year authorized each state to opt for their own legalization. And, finally, Brazil, which has become the focus of attention. Part of the lobby in Brasilia, the Remote Gambling Association, which brings together the main gambling sites in the world, argued in 2017 that the country could be the second largest legalized gaming market in the world, behind only the UK.
Sector becomes big sponsor of football teams
Another point seen as favorable to the liberation has to do with the funding of the football clubs themselves. Just as cigarettes, beers, automobile companies and, in Brazil, financial institutions, houses and betting sites have become the new patrons of team sponsorship.
Main showcase of world football and also the biggest market for bets, the English championship has also become a leader of the sector. Of the 20 clubs in the first division, nine are sponsored by bookmakers.
In the second division, the situation is even more evident: they are present in the shirts of 17 of the 24 teams this season. Although smaller, the movement is similar in other European leagues.
"Brazilian football needs resources, it needs to be able to attract and retain talent, and in world football these companies have very great relevance. We need to seize the opportunity," says lawyer Luiz Felipe Maia. Interest, by the way, is reciprocal. Even before the regulation, there are already agreements of Brazilian teams and betting sites.
In February, Fortaleza club signed a sponsorship agreement with the Maltese website NetBet, which, a month later, also reserved its place on Vasco da Gama's shirt.
"This market has a much greater appeal to the youth, because it represents a new form of experience with the sport," adds Pedro Trengrouse, a professor at Getulio Vargas Foundation (FGV) who foresees greater engagement of local and even foreign fans with matches here.
Market can have online giants and physical points
When the regularization of sports betting in Brazil takes place, it is most likely that the market will continue to be dominated by those who already leads the market: the major foreign online gaming sites. These companies, with offices in countries like Malta and Kenya, are not expected to move to Brazil but to set up subsidiaries here, something that should be required in industry regulation.
"It creates difficulty for those who operate outside, and ease for those who operate in the country," advocates lawyer Luiz Felipe Maia, citing as examples that companies with branches installed in Brazil can advertise and use traditional payment methods. The local market, after taking effect, would help to curb the actions of companies that do not settle here, according to the lawyer. With Brazilian inscriptions, these companies would also collect taxes in the country, as well as percentages on the collection to funds already determined by law.
The legislation, however, also predicted the bet made in physical environment, which could boost the gains in job creation for the country. FGV’s professor Pedro Trengrouse argues that each club or stadium can be a point of receiving bets, capillarizing the market and, also, generating income to sports institutions.
For Trengrouse, the big leap, however, would be the entry into the Caixa segment, which now has a virtual monopoly of gaming in the country. "Caixa can be the faithful of the scale of sports betting by placing lottery houses as points of sale," defends the teacher, who sees the lottery network as fundamental as way of payment of the bettings.
Trengrouse still supports the complementarity of the game with traditional lotteries, as it would help attract a younger audience to lottery houses. The bank itself shows interest in the matter, such as when it contracted consulting in 2017 to study the potential of the segment and the ways in which Caixa operates in the sector.
Legalization will have to curb fraud
In addition to tax collection and job creation, legalizing sports betting can help on other fronts, according to experts. One of them is in the fight against fraud in sporting events, besides contributing to the control of compulsive gamblers.
"When we have the industry operating in the country, the regulation will be able to establish prevention mechanisms, identifying hunches that run away from normal or a result that escapes the expected allied to a large volume of bets," advocates lawyer Luiz Felipe Maia. Without the legalized sector, several foreign sites currently accept bids in matches of lower divisions of Brazilian soccer, always more conducive to fraud attempts.
"It is necessary to have measures to protect the integrity of the sport. It is a fundamental point," argues Trengrouse. "Without this, and if there is manipulation, you lose the essence of the sport and even the reason of the bets. Who will bet on something suspected of fraud?", he added. By taking the sector down from illegality, it will be much easier to know who bets and identify possible frauds. Maia also points out that of the giants of online betting, most of them already have open capital, which requires a very high level of compliance. "There is practically no possibility of doing something illegal, because the consequences would be very serious," says the lawyer.
Regulation should be attractive to companies
Although already envisaged by law, sports betting still depends on the regulation of the federal government to be effectively legalized in Brazil. The text of the law gave the Ministry of Finance (now Ministry of Economy) two years to define the rules of the market, renewable for an equal period if necessary. More than the deadline, however, experts who follow the theme advocate that regulation should be made in a way that makes the segment attractive to companies.
"If we have a smart regulation, the impacts can be very large. It is a market whose potential can be much higher than lotteries today," says Trengrouse, who coordinates the partnership between the institution and the International Center for Sport Studies (CIES), the academic arm of FIFA. Trengrouse estimates that there are now more than 500 sites offering bets in Brazil, moving more than US$ 1 billion per year. The expectation is that, legalized, the segment will reach five times the billing, based on what happened after the legalization in France in 2010.
Releasing the activity after other countries can also be an advantage to Brazil, which can learn from the mistakes and good things of the pioneers, according to Maia. "The important thing is to guarantee the safety of everyone, from customers, operators and society alike, but give the operator the freedom to be creative in their business model," he says.
According to the Ministry of Economy, the portfolio intends to define in the first half the most viable model to the national market. There are two possibilities: by concession, with fixed number of companies, or by permission, with variable number. For Maia, the best is simple licenses, without limitation in competition. "The market is regulated, who is competent, will be more successful", defends the lawyer.
Trengrouse agrees, arguing that the simpler the process of entry, the more one will be able to attract those who today operate in illegality. "The regulation also has to protect the bettor, creating conditions for the legal game itself to combat the illegal," adds the professor.
Source: Guilherme Daroit - Jornal do Comercio
