André Gelfi said that the regulation of sports betting has caused a lot of expectation on the part of operators, since the law passed at the end of 2018 was the kick-off of a process that began so long ago.
"We expect regulation to thrive and manage the possibilities of investment, jobs and tax collection. This will be the maximization of the value of our activity," he said. According to Gelfi, the tax issue is still not very balanced in the law passed at the end of last year and needs to be re-evaluated. "Sports betting ended up being approved in the middle of the discussions on the lottery theme and so the tax question might not have been adequate," he said.
Rui Magalhães, of Estoril Sol, said that he has been following the Brazilian market for a long time and the approval of the sports betting law caused surprise, as it was born of a law for lotteries. "Bringing sports bets to this important showcase is very big and positive step for online gambling as a whole. In the gaming industry, companies should focus on the player, following rules to protect them and deliver exactly what they offer." As for the taxation of gambling in Portugal, Rui comments that sports betting taxes are on the turnover, “which makes the process unsustainable and needs to be reviewed."
Peter Nolte of Patagonia said the investment of casinos in integrated resorts is very large and that the trend is for the physical casinos to complement their operation with online. "Brazil can’t wait just to regulate sports betting. You should evaluate how to do this so that you do not need any revisions right after you regulate it. In drafting regulation, it should be good for the player, the operator and the government, not limited to sports betting, but online gambling as a whole."
Pierre Tournier said that "more important than 'how’ to regulate online games, we must ask ourselves what are the goals we have to regulate the activity to only work on what is best for the country. The online gaming sector, in its evaluation, must be well controlled by regulators so that the public policy that created the modality is respected. The market must be safe and attractive for the player, and at the same time suitable for the operator."
Source: Games Magazine Brasil
