Today, online gaming – with a billion dollar market and growing in Brazil – are mostly controlled by betting sites hosted by providers abroad, in the hands of foreign investors.
The Government has already approved a law for this type of business in Brazil, but the sector still needs to be regulated, and there is a line of Brazilians waiting to compete with the foreign giants that operate in the country.
Lobbying for resort casinos was strong in the National Congress until the death of Sheldon Adelson, the industry mogul in the United States and Asia.
He even visited parliamentarians in Brazil last year. His recent death made the subject come back to be debated around the bingos – a sector that was forgotten in the congressional approach.
Last Friday (10), the president of the House, Arthur Lira (PP-AL), created a working group with the objective of debating a Regulatory Framework for Gaming in Brazil, based on the bill 442/91, which has been processed for 30 years at the House.
The group, coordinated by deputy Bacelar (Pode-BA), President of the Tourism Committee of the Chamber, and whose rapporteur is Pernambuco’s state deputy Felipe Carreras (PSB-PE), will decide which model Brazil can have, if projects advance in Congress.
The deadline for completion of work in the text that regulates games of chance is 90 days. The other members of the group are Augusto Coutinho (SDD-PE), Marx Beltrao (PSD-AL), Leur Lomanto Junior (DEM-BA), Herculano Passos (MDB-SP), Otávio Leite (PSDB-RJ), Bibo Nunes (PSL-RS), Newton Cardoso Jr (MDB-MG) and Vermelho (PSD-PR).
Source: Leandro Mazzini / Istoé
