Brazil Introduces a Bill to Legalize Land-Based Casinos

Looks like Brazil’s citizens will soon be able to gamble in land-based casinos…

…since lawmaker, Paulo Azi, has introduced a bill that would give permission to each Brazilian state to open integrated resorts.

In the bill, submitted under the name, PL530/2019, Azi proposes that in each resort casino, gaming would occupy 10% of the venue space.

Besides casinos, each resort would have convention centers, spas, restaurants, shopping malls, and theme parks.

Online Gambling

In the past, the Brazilian government has been really active in their efforts to legalize online gambling as well as sports wagering…

…both online and in land-based venues.

But, each time someone from the country’s legislative inhibited those plans.

Integrated Resorts Regulative

As stated in the bill, each Brazilian state will have permission to build the limited number of these resorts…

…and it would have to depend on the population in the state.

For example, if the state has 15 million residents or less, then this state would grant permission to have only one resort. On the other hand, if the state has a population of between 15 million and 25 million residents, then the maximum number of resorts would be two.

Having three resorts would be permitted only to the states with over 25 million residents. In theory, at this pace, there would be 32 gambling facilities in Brazil in the near future…

…and each facility would obtain a 30-year license if it es the tender process.

The Taxes

Each license would be taxed with 10% from gross revenue, and the country would then divide the money into two parts. One would go to Brazil’s General Fund for Tourism, while the other would go to the National Public Security Fund.

The bill also states that only slots and table games would be permitted in the casinos.

A Word from the Lawmaker

Azi, a member of the Brazilian Chamber of Deputies, noted that he wanted to introduce this bill because illegal gambling already exists in the country…

…though the small legal percentage is conducted by the state lottery and operated by banking group, Caixa Econômica

“The focus of my proposition is not to foster the existence of [the gambling market],” Azi explained.

“It is instead because we are dealing with a sector that already exists, is in full operation, and whose expansion is practically impossible to stop. At present, there is no control, regulation or taxation of this industry in Brazil,” he added.

More Money, More Opportunities

Azi says that legal and illegal gambling combined are now worth around R$50 billion a year. But, if the country regulates gambling and legalizes land-based casinos, the state budget would flourish because of the additional revenue coming from the gambling taxes.

In order to explain better his intentions with this bill, Azi distinguished Nevada and Macao as perfect examples for making the most of legal gambling.

According to his bill, regulated gambling would bring new job opportunities for Brazilians, as well as pour more money into city governments.

Gambling Expansion Expected

If this bill es and becomes law, it would most definitely bring major gambling expansion to Brazil. But, this was not the first initiative of that type in the past few months. In December another bill was introduced and turned into law. President, Michel Temer, gave Brazilian Congress two years to plan and put together sports betting regulations.

Source:

“Brazilian lawmaker files bill to legalize land-based casinos”, igamingbusiness.com, February 13, 2019.