What was relevant in 2017 for gambling regulation?

Dec, 13th 2016, a little more than a year ago, following the routine of a Special Commission, the House of Representatives met at the Plenary to vote the Bill #442 of 1992, with the intent to regulate gambling.

On that day there was enormous hope that this saga (as expressed so well by the expert Marzia Turrini) could finally find an end. The session of the Congress was suspended and the Bill was taken out of the list of priorities.

During the first half of 2016 the urgency around the issue cooled down and there were rare groups talking about it at the Congress. It was a slow semester for us, who spend our time exchanging ideas with Congressmen and Assessors.

The most activity occurred in conjunction with the Clarion’s event Brazilian Gaming Congress (BGC IV) in São Paulo; at a meeting at the UK Embassy organized, among others, by my friends at Playtech, Francesco Rodano and Marina Pergher Ramos; and also during the official visit of Estoril Sol Digital to the National Congress.

The beginning of 2017 was extremely turbulent for our national political class, which had seen the president of the country Michel Temer as a defendant in front of the Congress; chairmen of the House of Representatives and Senate being implicated in scandals and arrests of important and traditional politicians.

There was no desire to address “secondary” topics under such pressure over the shoulders of Congressmen, who, beyond taking care of those issues, had to vote important remodeling bills covering retirement, labor, tax and election systems and threat social claims like 10 anti-corruption measures. All this in addition to recent raids between legislative, judiciary and executive powers. One against each other and all against all. Not even those familiar with Brasilia could create reliable predictions to that chaotic picture. Any prediction, in that scenario, would be irresponsible.

In the meantime, Nevada’s lobby established themselves in Brazil, engaging in person with the President of Country, Governors and Mayors. With the promises of strong investments, this lobby brought the subject back to the surface in the second half of the year, with completely different outcome. If we had before, a split Congress between “yes" and “no" regarding to gambling regulation, we evolved to a Congress in favor of gambling regulation, at least by a majority. The split changed from a binary discussion (Y x N) to a qualitative decision, unpredictable.

One of the most important events in this change was the creation of the Parliamentary Force to Gambling inside the House of Representatives. This was an initiative of Fed. Dep. César Halum, in the beginning of the second semester.

Right now, there are two leading possibilities for the future of gambling: Las Vegas model, of giant resorts, which contemplates land-based and online sports betting. Or a more comprehensive model, where all verticals of gambling would be regulated, land-based or online, free from the idea that a gambling spot must remain inside a resort area.

In November I had an amazing opportunity. I was requested to lead a group of Congressmen to Portugal, before their visit to London for a Tourism trade show.

Helped once again by Estoril Sol Digital, we organized a stopover in Portugal. The official visit of Congressmen Paulo Azi, José Carlos Araújo and Efraim Filho to Casinos Estoril and Lisboa was extremely important for the debate about the most feasible model to Brazil. As those Congressmen are part of a Tourism Committee, they had in mind that the Las Vegas model was the best, thinking that this system could bring tourism to the Country and development to struggling areas. But Brazil is not Nevada, and neither is Europe. I would say that the success of Las Vegas will not happen again, anywhere in the globe.

In the first moment of the visit one of the Congressmen asked Executive Director of the Casino, Mr. Antonio Vieira Coelho, how many rooms they had over the Casino, getting back the number “zero”.

• No rooms? - he asked again incredulously.
• Exactly. This is the biggest Casino in Europe, with no rooms.

This visit was crucial to demonstrate that there is life out of the Las Vegas model, after the demonstration from Gambling Director Mr. Henrique Pica.

Leaving Portugal, they went to London to continue their schedule where they had the chance to experience the Hippodrome Casino, guided by my friend Liliana Costa, Latam Liaison at Clarion and VP Latam of Spectrum Gaming Capital. In this important visit, they received the same input, that the resort model is not the only success formula, as the Hippodrome, among all typical verticals of gambling, hosts the only live deck of the giant Poker Stars.

Also deserves special notes the official visit of Congressman Fed. Dep. Nelson Marquezelli to both casinos of the Estoril Sol in Lisbon and Estoril.  

My point of view is if the Congressmen are not entirely committed yet with the global model, at least a reasonable doubt has been planted.

The second half of the year was full of robust activity on the subject, as we can see from the events shown above. Add to it the fact that almost all Governors went to Brasilia seeking for support of gambling regulation. Immersed in debts and with serious cash flow problems, States see speedy financial relief in gambling, investments, tax revenue and new job growth.

The year of 2017 ended with the compromise of the House Representatives and Senate set to vote their Bills. In the House of Representatives, the bill is ready to vote at the Plenary, while in the Senate it should be voted at the Constitutional Affairs Committee and then follow to a Plenary vote in the first available session.

From a cold first half of 2017, to a first half of 2018 that is catching fire in Brasilia.

Ladies and Gentlemen, place your bets!

Witoldo Hendrich Júnior