European Gaming Lawyer magazine Spring 2014 | Page 34

Brazil Preparing To Bid
Sweepstakes License
By Luiz Felipe Maia is a founding partner of Law Firm Oliveira Ramos,
Maia E Advogados Associados

A

Luiz Felipe Maia

lmost all gambling activities are
prohibited in Brazil since the
general ban on games of chance, in
1946, with just a few forms of gambling
activities expressly exempt from this
ban. The only gambling sectors legally operating in
Brazil are the lottery industry, under the monopoly
of the national and states public lotteries; wagering
on horse races, that are not very popular; and poker
tournaments; which are treated as a sport competition.
As a result of Decree Law no. 50,954/1961, Caixa
Econômica Federal (“Caixa”), a federal-owned public
bank, holds monopoly rights over the national lottery
and other federal lottery games and Brazil remains
one the few closed markets for gambling in the
world. A huge market, with over 200,000,000 people,
more than one mobile phone/inhabitant and almost
100,000,000 internet users, with GDP of USD 2,435 bi.
According to the newspaper “O Estado de São
Paulo”, Caixa intends to invite bids for one license
to operate sweepstakes and other kinds of instant
lotteries in the national territory.
Albeit, consensus is still not established in the
Brazilian government regarding the subject. Caixa
portrays this as a way of “modernizing the Brazilian
Lottery”, enabling the expansion of the local market,

34 | European Gaming Lawyer | Spring Issue | 2014

both land-based and online. The Treasury, on the
other side, is concerned about losing part of the
revenues to the private sector. In any case, the fact
that Caixa is publicly discussing the matter can be
perceived as the first step in decades for the opening
of the Brazilian gaming market.
Since the law creates Caixa’s monopoly for lotteries,
Caixa intends to procure all the operational services
(pre-production, production, logistics, marketing,
internet platform, sales, post-sales and support) from
the winning private company/consort ][K