Brazil’s Bill 3626, which would regulate sports betting, received 49 amendments before the October 4 deadline to submit them, Yogonet reported October 12.
The Chamber of Deputies passed the bill in September. The Senate has 45 days to process the bill.
Senators may still submit amendments within their respective committees, including Sports and Economic Affairs.
Senator Angelo Coronel was named rapporteur for the bill, with the duty of reporting on the proceedings of hearings on the bill.
It is being debated in the Economic Affairs and Sports committees.
After being heard in committees, the bill will be submitted to the Senate Plenary and put on the agenda November 11 due to its being deemed urgent constitutionally.
Amendments have varied, ranging from reducing taxes on gross gambling revenue (GGR) to the value of the Administration Fee, to adjustments to income tax for players.
Senator Ciro Nogueira offered three amendments, including one calling for giving preference to national companies. Another of his amendments would ban persons connected with gaming companies having direct or indirect participation in a soccer team or professional sports organization.
He also targets sports betting ads, especially in schools and universities, or any sports betting promotions in any media that minors might have access to.
Despite industry warnings that excessive taxation would cripple the nascent sector, some senators proposed increasing taxation to 20 percent, rather than the original 18 percent.
Industry representatives see the appointment of Senator Coronel as rapporteur as a favorable development. Coronel has been a consistent advocate for legalizing all forms of gaming.
BNLData quoted Coronel as saying, “The revenue potential of an economic activity that has already been incorporated into the lives of Brazilians only confirms the certainty that the proposal is welcomed. The path opened, capable of breaking with paradigms of a moral nature, allows us to delve deeper into the subject and propose broader changes in our legislation, regulating, for example, the so-called games of chance, especially in resorts.”
He added that opponents of sports betting and other forms of gaming ignore its potential to generate tourism, employment, economic growth and social development in regions where casinos would be located.
