Acting governor Darci Piana authorised the official start of sports betting operations in Paraná on 24 November. Initially, four companies accredited and authorised by Loterias do Estado do Paraná (Lottopar) will be able to operate within the management and payment platform contracted by the state authority.

The four already authorised companies have been accredited as Fixed Betting operators (AQF), which is the technical term for sports betting, have their documentation approved and have carried out integration tests of their own systems with the platform contracted by Lottopar. Finally, as foreseen in the public notice, they paid a subsidy of R$5 million each to start their activities in Paraná.

"Part of these grant funds, as well as any new ones that may be raised from new companies joining, are being used for equipment and systems to control operations and to ensure that there is no misappropriation of funds and that no gamblers are harmed," said the incumbent Governor.

So far, the state has collected R$20 million from the licences alone. In addition to the pre-fixed amount already paid, the companies that will operate sports betting in Paraná will pay a 5% canon and a variable subsidy of 1% on the monthly gross revenues from the commercialisation of bets, minus the amounts passed on as prizes to bettors during the period.

The Executive will allocate most of the revenues to areas such as popular housing, public safety and the financing of social programmes and actions.  "Betting would happen anyway, so with the regulation by the state, part of the resources that would go elsewhere will revert to the people of Paraná, besides the fact that the regulation promotes more seriousness, control and fluidity of operations,"added Piana.

According to Lottopar's general director, Daniel Romanowski, sports betting already existed, but without any regulation and with companies operating from outside the country. "For almost five years these bets operated solely on the offshore model, without the operators being accountable or paying taxes," he explained.

"Following the Supreme Court decision allowing states to regulate sports betting, Paraná has already accredited interested companies with eight licences, four of which will start operating immediately. With this, bettors can now count on official sites, licensed and operated by serious companies, which gives more security to bettors and brings a financial return to the entire population," added Lottopar's president.

Qualified companies

The companies authorised to offer sports betting to the people of Paraná are Apostou, Bplay, Aposta.La and Pix Bet. There are also four other companies accredited and authorised by Lottopar, whose authorisation only depends on the payment of the licence fee. Further information on the companies authorised to operate in the State, as well as answers to frequently asked questions related to the authority's activities, can be found on Lottopar's website.

The contracting processes also stipulate that all authorised companies must be based in Paraná and that customer service must be available 24 hours a day.

Lottopar's Director of Operations, Fabio Veiga, explains that the local authority will act as an inspector, but will also provide support to bettors using the authorised operators' websites, respecting the LGPD and the privacy of bettors. "Through the contracted platform, Lottopar will control 100% of the operations, from the registration of users to the withdrawal of winnings. If they have any doubts, they can also contact our team through the website, by phone or email," he said.

Paraná was one of the pioneers in the process of regulating state lotteries. The state was the first to establish its own rules for sports betting, one of the first to open accreditation for this type of lottery and to accredit testing and certification laboratories for the games. These measures were taken to ensure the safety and confidence of operators and bettors.

More recently, Lottopar was also the first state lottery in Brazil to join the World Lottery Association (WLA), the world's largest lottery association, which brings together more than 150 state lotteries from 80 countries on five continents.

Safe gambling

The event also saw the signing of a technical cooperation agreement between Lottopar, the Civil Police and the Scientific Police to share information between the agencies in order to ensure the fairness of sports betting in Paraná. The document stipulates that Lottopar will provide law enforcement agencies with extensive access to its management platform and payment methods, as well as related websites and databases.

"This cooperation agreement between the Department of Security, through the Civil Police and the Scientific Police, is fundamental to ensure that the entire process is fair, avoiding possible fraud and other issues that could jeopardise the credibility of the process," said the secretary of Public Security, Hudson Leôncio Teixeira. "In addition, part of the proceeds will be invested in improving public security".

Key players and guests

The presentation was also attended by the Secretaries of State for Administration and Welfare, Elisandro Frigo, and for Sport, Helio Wirbiski; the State Attorney General, Luciano Borges; the head of the Civil Police, Silvio Rockembach; and the general director of the Scientific Police, Luiz Rodrigo Grochocki, Lottopar's administrative-financial director, Rogério Cesar Nogueira, Lottopar's operations director, Fabio Veiga, Lottopar's technical director, Rafael Halila, Lottopar's chief of staff, Stefanny Fernandes and representatives of Apostou, Bplay, Aposta. La, Pix Bet and the Lottopar team.