Brazil plans to limit sports betting licenses to 30, creating a potentially cutthroat bidding process as operators fight for the right to do business in Latin America’s most populous nation.
This week, the Secretary of Public Policy, Planning, Energy and Lottery (SECAP) in Brazil’s Ministry of Economy confirmed plans for a third public consultation on the government’s plans to regulate online and land-based sports betting. Submissions are being accepted until March 6 through the following email address: [email protected]
SECAP’s previous two consultations had resulted in a plan to issue between 50-60 betting licenses to qualified applicants, but this was revised to a more limited “public concession model” following suggestions by the Attorney General’s Office of the National Treasury (PGFN), which felt a more limited number of licensees would allow greater capacity to punish operators who fail to adhere to the rules.
SECAP has now issued details on its new plans, which include the desire to issue “an optimum number of 30” licenses. Interested applicants will be asked to submit a bid guarantee, a written economic proposal and documents attesting to their qualifications. SECAP will then consider the submissions and issue its verdicts, which losing candidates will have the right to appeal.
Once underway, the whole process is expected to take six months, and should the maximum number of licenses not be issued after the first go-round, the process will repeat itself in six-month intervals until all available licenses are spoken for.
With a population of around 210m residents, Brazil is by far the biggest market in the Western Hemisphere outside of the United States. As such, the competition for Brazilian betting licenses is expected to be fierce, notwithstanding the government’s plan to impose a 3% tax on online betting turnover – 6% for retail turnover – rather than a more palatable revenue-based tax.
In other developments, SECAP has identified a replacement for Secretary Alexandre Manoel, who last month announced his intention to leave politics. Games Magazine Brasil reported that Aumara Bastos Feu Alvim de Souza, the current Undersecretary of Evaluation and Direct Spending, has been tapped to fill Manoel’s shoes when he steps down later this year.
