Sports Betting In Brazil Launch Postponed, Large Profits Await

• Brazil sports betting should be arriving sometime in 2020.
• Disagreements about the number of licenses and legalities could delay Brazil sports betting launch.
• The Brazil sports betting industry is estimated to be worth $1.6 billion.

BRASILIA, Brazil – Sports betting was making progress in Brazil, but the possibility of it being legalized was revealed this weekend.

Brazil sports betting is active but it is highly unregulated. There is hardly any government oversight for the pastime, and Brazilian lawmakers want to change that.

The Plans And Delays

Due to the size of Brazil, federal lawmakers want to allow sports betting to be available no matter where they are. That is why retail and mobile sports betting was in discussion. The number of sports betting licenses was originally set to be 50.

Although both mobile and retail sportsbooks are still expected, it is unlikely that 50 licenses will be distributed. Sports betting in Brazil needs to go through further public consultation. This means that the number of sports betting licenses will likely be reduced. The exact number of licenses will be unknown until a bill is drafted.

Original estimates stated that a sports betting bill was to be drafted by March. However, the public consultation could cause further delays. Now estimates indicate that a bill will not appear until mid-2020.

Profits In The Horizon

Estimates show that Brazilian sports betting could bring in $1.6 billion every year to the country. Sports betting is already happening in the country and the government now aims to profit off it.

The tax rate for sports betting will be different depending on how the bets are being placed. Online sports betting will be taxed at a 3% rate based on turnover. Offline sports betting will be taxed at a 6% rate based on turnover.

This is vastly different from how the United States handles sports betting. If a state in the U.S. has sports betting, normally, it is online sports betting that is taxed a higher rate. The reason for that is sports betting is largely done online in the United States.

However, the two tax rates were part of the original proposal. Now that sports betting needs a public consultation, it is unclear if the tax rate will remain the same. In either case, fully legalizing sports betting in Brazil by the end of 2020 is still on track despite the delays.

News tags: Brazil | Legalization | mobile