On a recent junket to Las Vegas, a Brazilian delegation led by Senator Flávio Bolsonaro, son of President Jair Bolsonaro, paid its respects to Las Vegas Sands CEO Rob Goldstein, and expressed interest in meeting Sheldon Adelson as well. The 86-year-old casino titan has long advocated for casinos in Brazil, and has said he’d willingly invest billions to launch the industry there.
“Brazil is Las Vegas Sands’ No. 1 interest in investing US$15 billion in 2020; we just need to regulate the matter so that they have transparency and legal certainty,” said Bolsonaro.
A source told Games Magazine Brasil that the president’s son “is very interested in developing an agenda and making things happen. He is eager to improve the number of tourists and that is why he wants to legalize casinos through conviction and consensus, and not by imposition.”
The official visit was authorized by Senate President Davi Alcolumbre. The delegation will gather information on a possible legal framework that would allow for casinos in existing resorts.
“This is an important occasion for the promotion of Brazilian tourism in the international market, which, among other topics, will address issues related to the attraction of sea cruises to the Brazilian coast, as well as investments for the installation of new resorts in our country,” Bolsonaro said in a letter to Alcolumbre.
The delegation was expected to meet with the Nevada Gaming Control Board to learn more about inspections, licensing, and regulatory matters.
The delegation included federal deputy Hélio Lopes; and Brazilian tourism ambassadors and sports personalities including Vitor Belfort, a popular American-Brazilian mixed martial artist, and Renzo Gracie, also an MMA artist and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu practitioner.
President Bolsonaro said last April that a ruling on legal gambling is a matter for the legislature to decide, not the courts. In June 2019, Senator Ciro Nogueira, president of the Progressive Party, met with Economy Minister Paulo Guedes seeking government support for his proposal to legalize gambling in Brazil.
Adelson has visited Brazil several times to discuss the establishment of integrated resorts in Brazil. In May 2017, he met with then Brazilian President Michel Temer and several government officials to pitch an $8 billion casino project in Rio de Janeiro.
