Senate rapporteur pushes for vote on Brazil’s casino bill by end of September

Senator Irajá Abreu has urged the Senate to review and vote on the long-delayed gambling bill.

Brazil.- With Brazil now processing applications for online gambling licences, senator Irajá Abreu is now pushing for the country’s Senate to finish its review and vote on proposed land-based gambling reforms. The rapporteur has called for a vote by the end of September before municipal elections.

Bill 2,234/22 would legalise land-based casinos in Brazil as well as bingo, betting on horse racing and instant win jogo de bicho games. Abreu said there had been a positive response as the Senate began reviewing the revived bill on the return from its last recess. Magnho José Santos, president of the Legal Gaming Institute (IJL), and Hazenclever Lopes Cançado, president of the Rio de Janeiro State Lottery (Loterj), have given their support to the bill.

Key parts of the bill are more than a decade old, having been drafted by deputy Renato Vianna, and the bill has consistently been rebuffed by evangelical politicians. However, Abreu said: “The bill is mature. I am very confident that we have enough votes to approve this and deliver for the Brazilian people a framework and a new business environment with clear rules, and that we can invite serious people to work in a segment that is currently dominated and controlled by organised crime.”

Meanwhile, 113 operators applied for online gambling licences in Brazil ahead of the closure of a 90-day priority application window on August 20. That’s a steep increase from a mere six operators that had applied before full technical rules for online sports betting and igaming were published at the start of this month.

The IBIA has predicted that the Brazilian gambling market could be worth €31.1bn a year by 2028. Late applicants have included MGM Resorts and Grupo Globo, who last week confirmed the formation of a new venture to seek a licence for the BetMGM brand.