Brazil’s big media and many political figures are stepping up to defend the legalization of casinos and gambling in one the biggest untapped gaming markets in the world.
On June 24, O Globo, the largest newspaper in the country, declared in an editorial: “After 78 years of prohibition, it is clear that the best alternative is to legalize.” It added, “the State has become the only authorized banker with lotteries, but the public authorities have stopped exercising their role as regulator” and that “the expectation is an initial turnover of R$14 billion ($2.6 billion) annually and, in the future, R$20 billion ($3.7 billion) in taxes.”
Although Brazil banned casinos and gambling in 1946, the sector largely went underground where it was unregulated and grew. With the arrival of the internet, Brazil’s residents began wagering on offshore websites, but had no one to turn to if they were ripped off.
The website Aposta Legal Brasil reports that between January and April of this year, residents spent $3.7 billion on gray-market online bookmakers. That is 32.14 percent higher than the same period last year, when they spent $2.8 billion.
Yogonet reports that a survey commissioned by CNN to Datahub, a data analysis platform, showed a 734.6 percent increase in online gambling in Brazil between 2021 and April 2024.
A slight correction in direction occurred two years ago when Brazil legalized sports betting. Then the movement began to add casinos, bingos, and jogo do bicho. This resulted in Bill 2,234/2022, approved by the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate’s Constitution and Justice Committee (CCJ).
Senator Irajá Silvestre Filho, who has been the bill’s rapporteur, declared recently: “The economic and social indicators of the countries improved, there was no increase in violence or tax evasion.”
Games Magazine Brasil reported that Senator Margareth Buzetti advocated the legalization of casinos and requiring the use of credit cards to prevent money laundering. This proposal is running into heavy opposition.
The senator declared, “Look, I have some restrictions on bingo, but the casino doesn’t, because you can only do it with a credit card. Because then the persons spend and cannot launder money. They will pay taxes on this, they cannot launder money.”
She added, “But if one thing happens, everything will happen. So you can’t separate it. For example, I was against electronic games. I think this is absurd for our youth. But it passed, right? It’s democracy, the majority wins.”
The approval by the CCJ was a narrow victory, 14-12, sending the bill to the Senate Board of Directors, which will determine when it will be discussed on the Senate floor.
Supporters have noted that the U.S., China, India, Germany, Japan, France, Italy, the U.K. and Australia have all legalized casinos and that the U.S. has more than 1,000 of them. Brazil is also in the minority in Latin America, where 33 countries out of 37 allow, regulate and tax gaming.
Opponents claim legalizing gambling would increase gaming addiction and encourage money laundering, prostitution and trafficking.
The bill under consideration would limit the number of casinos per state and would encourage them to be part of resorts and tourist centers. It would include measures to ban money laundering and prevent consumers from becoming indebted.
