The sports betting market in Brazil is growing fast, moving more and more resources from bettors and injecting substantial investments in advertising and sponsorships into Brazilian sports, totaling around R$53 billion (USD 10.25b) annually, according to a recent study carried out by Ernst&Young Global Limited in partnership with the Brazilian Football Confederation, a value that will surely be enhanced with the 2022 World Cup.
This is a reality that is imposed and that it takes time to be properly taken care of by the Brazilian Government, especially since the protection of the entire Brazilian society is the main reason for the conclusion of the regulation of Law 13.756/2018, much more than for the welcome increase in the collection of tributes to the country to be derived from it.
We urgently need to better protect the national sports market, bettors, consumers of this public service as established by law, and our social fabric as a whole from fraud and other illicit activities, so that tragic stories of a still recent past, stories these mainly result from the lack of control and measures to prevent the irregular and even irresponsible practice of gambling in the country.
And, for that, the first step is the formalization of the performance of sports betting operators in the country.
The lack of officialization of sports betting operators working in Brazil harms the national sports market by depriving it of financial support from these operators in the cost of game integrity monitoring practices, actions that protect the sport, operators and, above all, , the gamblers.
Still, the lack of regulation harms the sports market by not establishing rules for the effective allocation of funds from operations to the promotion of sport, currently being underinvested and concentrated in few sports. In this sense, it is never too much to remember the importance of sport for the country, which is intertwined with the cultural formation of the Brazilian people, whether for the symbolism of national pride in the awards and performance of our athletes and confederations, or for the relevant social role that the sports-based training structures offer a profession, income and inclusion to thousands of Brazilians.
In the current conjuncture, the asymmetric situation of information and power in which Brazilian gamblers find themselves, at the mercy of possible unfair operators, who, in addition to misusing their personal data, can misappropriate deposited funds and prizes, is also worrying, violating the most elementary rights of Brazilian consumers, whose effective imposition on sports betting operators is intrinsically linked to the respective formalization of these operators in the country.
The Brazilian Society is particularly serious about the inexistence of operators submitting to the rules of the National Financial System or to the obligation to use means of payment recognized by the Central Bank, which would provide greater security to gamblers about the due compensation of their deposits and withdrawals, with the consequent traceability of transactions and prevention of diversion of such funds for the purpose of money laundering and financing of illicit activities.
Above all, we need to protect the Society by promoting good responsible gaming practices, aiming not to repeat the negative experience of bingo games, which caused so much damage to the social fabric, notably due to the lack of appropriate regulation, added to the lack of awareness of the then operators, of, for example, managing betting limits, avoiding, above all, the indebtedness of consumers, notably the most vulnerable, elderly and adicts to gambling.
And, in this context, no less relevant is the role of an infra-legal regulation that restrains marketing actions that encourage irresponsible or compulsive gambling, while encouraging the provision of adequate information and self-control tools to gamblers.
It follows, therefore, that the present state of deregulation hurts the Brazilian Society for the absence of an infra-legal framework that allows enforcing rules and good practices with the sports betting operators concerning the protection of consumer rights, sports integrity and the prevention of money laundering and financing of illicit activities, as well as, and in particular, protection against the side effects resulting from the promotion and addiction to gambling.
The sports betting market is capable of offering healthy and aggregating entertainment to the population, generating jobs, sponsorships and tributes for the country. These are the main aspects that must be privileged with the regulation of Law 13,756/2018, which must especially ensure that reputable operators provide their services to Brazilian consumers.
We live the paradox of a market that since 2018 is no longer illegal, it grows vigorously - at a pace boosted by the approach of the World Cup - however deregulated, and producing the positive and negative consequences arising from this situation. The late regulation of Law 13,756/2018 presents itself as a fundamental action to protect the Brazilian Society, the national sports market, its consumers and even its operators.
We need to move forward in this story.
Ana Bárbara Costa Teixeira
Lawyer, Master in Commercial Law from USP, MBA in Strategic and Economic Management of Projects from FGV, legal consultant at galera.bet.
