The bill regulating online sports betting has reached the Senate and institutes an 18% tax on gross revenues from betting, in addition to establishing a fee of one and up to R$30 million for companies to operate legally in Brazil.  

The debate on the regulation of the sector has been going on for years. In 2023 alone, the number of companies setting up in Brazil grew by 135% compared to 2022.

By August, there were 221 new companies - compared to 94 opened in the same period last year.  
"We are likely to witness strong growth, as the legislation provides a safe and attractive environment for investors, operators and players," opines Cristiano Maschio, president of payment entity Qesh IP.

The text was approved by the House of Representatives on September 13 and is being processed as a matter of urgency.  As a result, the Senate has 45 days to examine the proposal, at the risk of blocking the voting agenda.

"We are confident that the market will continue to grow, given Brazil's potential. 
And, as we have seen in recent years, it has not yet proven to have reached its peak, given the very high growth rates of the last four years,"  says Marcos Sabiá, presidentof Galera.Bet.

Prizes for individuals will be taxed at 30%, including the initial investment and winnings. This model is already adopted today in the federal lottery. Of the total collected, 2% will go to the Social Security, 4% to Sports and a part to the Ministry of Tourism, which currently does not receive these funds.

In the non-regulated scenario, unfortunately we still find operators that do not comply with the regulations on responsible gaming, compliance and fraud prevention, for example, which ends up tarnishing the image of the segment in the country".  I believe that with the new rules we will have more reputable companies targeting our market", says Darwin Filho, president of Esportes da Sorte.

According to data from BNL Data, the gambling sector generates some R$120 billion a year.  In addition, a previous study by Similar Web revealed that the country leads the world in accesses to betting sites, with 3.2 billion of the approximately 14.2 billion global accesses, which represents about 25%.  Among the factors behind the growth of bookmakers across the country are increased access to the Internet and new technologies, from the use of smartphones to facilities such as Pix for payments.

"Betting platforms have come to occupy a space left vacant during the pandemic, when clubs and organizations saw sponsorship decrease considerably in the country," explains José Victor Valadares, business director of Bet7k, which entered the sports market by supporting different sports and, more recently, signed an unprecedented partnership with the Brazilian Volleyball Confederation.