With international gambling industry excitement growing over the imminent launch of fully-regulated sports betting in Brazil, authorities in the South American giant are girding their loins–and “checking their pistols”–for a massive crack-down on illicit and off-shore operators in the nation.
This week the so-called Secretariat for Prizes and Betting (SPA), which oversees the federal online gambling licence process, announced that 71 businesses were now authorised to operate regulated online sites in the country.
To date there have been 114 applications for iGaming licences, Regis Dudena, SPA President, told parliamentarians, of which 71 had been approved.
Brazilian “Bet” licences are valid for five-years and allow each licensee to operate three skins per licence.
Putative operators must pay an upfront fee of BRL30 million (£3.97m/US$5.05m) within 30-days.
Four Protocols
All authorised operators must have a registered office in Brazil — with accounts certified by the national Bank of Brazil
By today–with less than 30-days to go to the launch of online sports betting in this country of 217 million people–only 16 of the accredited 71 have paid their full fees, informed Dudena.
The SPA was formed earlier this year as the supervisory gambling enforcement arm of the Ministry of Finance.
Wannabe online operators must satisfy a strict four-stage protocol embracing IT security, payment processing, Responsible Gaming regulations and tough anti-money laundering safeguards.
The build-up to regulated sports betting has seen Brazilian authorities, led by the SPA, launch a major crack-down on clandestine gambling sites. So far over 5,000 illegal betting domains have been eradicated, with many thousands more expected to be targeted and wiped.
Sin Taxes
“Starting January 1, all companies operating in Brazil will need to be Brazilian entities established under Brazilian law,” affirmed Dudena.
“We’ll know their shareholders, ultimate beneficiaries, and executives, ensuring complete oversight of both legal entities and individuals involved in this activity.”
And the process of legalisation and fiscal compliance is still not yet fully settled.
Brazil’s Bets market is set for further legislation in the New Year, with a near certainty that selective taxes–so-called “Sin Taxes”–will be further imposed on gamblers and the gambling industry.
Watch this space and iGamingFuturo.com–with its elite team of special correspondents Jordi Bacardi and Kelvin Loyola–for full and exclusive coverage of Brazil and the wider LatAm market in 2025.
