iGaming Daily

Fernando Noodt (00:01.568)
The Sounds of the Sea, The Jungle, Zamba, Ansoon, Roulette, Dice and Slots. Brazil is moving closer to legalizing land -based gaming venues after the Senate Commission approved a bill and sent it to the 7th floor for final approval. This is iGamingDaily and like every day, we are here to dive into the most relevant stories in the industry so you can keep up to date with everything going on. I'm your host Fernando Nott.

straight out of the SBC Noticias barracks and I'm joined by SBC Noticias editor Lucia Gando aka The Boss. Lu, how are you today?

Lucía (00:40.158)
Hello Fer, how are you? I'm really flattered about this nickname.

Fernando Noodt (00:42.943)
I'm very good.

Fernando Noodt (00:47.264)
It's not a nickname, it's a fact actually. So I'm not sure why you flatter. You've earned it. But we are also joined by SBC Noticias Brazil's Isadora Marcanchi, our resident expert in Brazilian gaming, feijoada and football, you know, and foot tennis. What's the what's that sport you play in the beach with the with the racquets? Which tennis? It was easy as that. OK, how are you?

Isadora (00:49.72)
Ha ha ha.

Lucía (00:49.774)
You

Isadora (01:09.881)
Beach tennis. Yes. I'm very good. Hello. Hi boss. How are you? I'm really happy to be here. And yeah, I have my beach tennis lesson today this morning. It was pretty good. It was refreshing. So yeah, I'm really happy to be here.

Lucía (01:13.87)
You

Lucía (01:18.222)
Loisa.

Fernando Noodt (01:29.312)
so you're not... but you have eaten it yeah yeah you can judge you can judge a fesuada whether it's good or not so yeah that makes you an expert enough but you're a tryharder in beach tennis apparently you have lessons so I would not dare to challenge you to a beach tennis match I think

Isadora (01:29.529)
And I'm not an expert in feijoada by the way, it's really hard to do it. No I'm not, I'm expert on eating feijoada, yeah. I'm expert on it. Yeah, I can judge. Yeah, definitely.

Isadora (01:48.696)
Yes, I do.

Isadora (01:54.392)
I'm not as good yet. I'm not as good as I can be, but I will one day and then I will challenge you. And you can come to Jampa.

Fernando Noodt (01:58.143)
Okay, maybe we'll have to try it in... Yeah, I'll go to Jumbo and play beach tennis with you and then we can have a tournament or something at the SBC Summit Rio in 2025.

Isadora (02:12.44)
Yes, please. That would be awesome. I would love that.

Fernando Noodt (02:14.528)
Yeah, that'd be great. And before we dive into the news and stop talking nonsense like we are doing, let us thank iGamingDaily's sponsor OptiMove, the number one CRM marketing solution for the iGaming market. 56 % of the EGR Power 50 personalized player experiences with OptiMove. And as a special offer, OptiMove are offering new clients a free first month when they buy OptiMove. For more information and claim the free month,

go to optimum .com slash SBC or check the podcast episode description description where links will also be left. And so we were talking about land -based gaming in Brazil, major news coming in the last few days. Isa, why don't you take us through what happened with that land -based gaming bill in the Senate?

Isadora (03:07.099)
Well, on the 19th of June, the Constitution and Justice Committee of the Senate in Brazil approved the bill that legalized land -based casinos, bingles, Jogo do Bicho, and bets in...

horse racing. In land base everything can happen legally in a physical space, it doesn't have to be online. So they approved the bill by 14 votes against 12, so it was a very tight vote session. And yeah, now we're waiting for the plenary to analyze the bill and to vote yes or no and see what happens after that.

Fernando Noodt (03:50.815)
hashtag Brazil wait and see. Like I think I have said that in every single episode we have record. But so everyone when you think about land -based gaming, of course you are thinking casinos. So what does the bill specifically say about casinos?

Isadora (03:53.21)
Always.

We did it.

Isadora (04:10.299)
Well, the bill says that companies can...

have casinos in touristic spaces or in integrated complex, like such resorts, hotels. But there are some specifications on that. Like for hotels and resorts, for example, you need to have at least 100 bedrooms. And you need to have restaurants, bars, and places for meetings and cultural events.

amendment from Angela Coronel, which is a senator, that he asked to that the casinos can also be placed in complex that are already made for that.

you buy a hotel or if you buy a space and you build this hotel to be as a casino hotel, then you can have that. But that's a discussion that they're having right now. They had on the session too that that could jeopardize the hotel and the tourist, touristic industry in Brazil because you have so many hotels already built, not specific to be a casino, but it's built already. Maybe you have a space to build a casino in there. So they want to

change that just to make sure that everyone involved in the in this hotel and tourism industries can actually participate and engage and of course bring more money to the country. So you can also have casinos in ships and big ships of course like to like for cruises and everything so you can have so you can install these casinos and and these spaces for

Isadora (05:59.822)
for entertainment, but you have specifications as well. You need to have like, for if you have a fluvial ship, you need to have at least 50 bedrooms. So like there's a lot of limitations and specifications in each thing, but the main thing is casinos in hotels and ships will be allowed if the bill is approved and.

turn into law by Lula after everything. But there's a lot of specifications, there's a lot of details that companies need to pay attention to because it's not every company that can open a casino in their establishments. So yeah, that's basically it. It's just too many details. We'll leave the link in the description so people can read the news.

Fernando Noodt (06:48.317)
Yeah, definitely you need to subscribe to the newsletters of both SBC Noticias Brasil and SBC Noticias DAS.

you will can find in svcnoticias .com and of course svcnoticias .com slash vr as in Brazil not virtual reality please but I find it very amusing how thinking of the casinos in the in the river like the you know thinking about the the Mississippi River in the US with the ships with the like the little wheel you know but yeah

we'll see if this bill comes through, that's what I wanted to say, we'll see some casinos floating around Brazil and I think that's very interesting. And you mentioned Jogo do Vichu or something like that. that's perfect, as a Spanish speaker I would say Jogo do Vicho.

Isadora (07:38.236)
Yeah.

Isadora (07:44.988)
That was 100 % correct.

Lucía (07:45.422)
you

Fernando Noodt (07:51.516)
so it's a that's like how how how go to beach yeah now the jogo do bichu which translates to like the the animals game right something like that yeah okay so how popular is jogo do bichu in brazil

Lucía (07:54.126)
Hogo, hogo the boy too.

Lucía (08:02.601)
I'm gonna go.

Isadora (08:03.805)
Yeah, yeah, that's right. Yeah.

Isadora (08:10.078)
It's really popular. I remember when I was younger that I had a neighbor that used to sell numbers to bed.

and it was something that, my god, you cannot tell anyone that I do that because it's illegal and everything. But it's a very simple game, actually. You just buy a number, or it's not that simple, actually, but it's very fun because you buy a number, you can buy like the dozen or I don't know how many numbers you want, and you decide on each part of the animal that you are choosing that you want to bet. And then if you hit the head, for instance, of the animal, you get the bigger prize.

and engaging people love that especially the older ones but it's illegal it's been illegal since if I'm not mistaken 1946 when our former president Eurico Gaspar Dutra banned casinos and games

fortune games in the country. But it's very popular, but the main concern in Brazil right now is that the Jogo do Bicho is mainly led by organized crime. So I think there's a very reasonable reason why they want to legalize it and they want to make it, they want to legalize the game and make it like 100 % legal so you can just take out from the hands of the organized crime and have

Have it more... You can control it. You can know exactly what's going on, how much money they are making and of course pay taxes and everything. But it's a very popular game. There's here in João Pessoa, in every single corner you go, you see like little Kielskys selling the Jogo do Bicho and a lot of people playing and betting. It's like Bingo as well. Bingo is very popular here.

Isadora (10:04.349)
but Jogo do Bicho comes from a longer time.

Fernando Noodt (10:08.827)
Yeah, we can hear the motorbikes, the motorcycles racing and beeping to get their numbers betting on the elephant and the giraffe. But what does the bill specifically say about Yogo do Bicho?

Isadora (10:11.933)
Yes, exactly.

Isadora (10:23.423)
Well, the bill says that the Jogo do Bicho, you can have in each state in the DC, one company can have a Jogo do Bicho establishment every 700 ,000 people living there. But we have one state in Brazil, Roraima, that has less population than 700 ,000.

you can have one Jogo do Bicho establishment there if you want to, even though you don't have 700 ,000 people there. So the authorization is for 25 years, and you can renew it for 25 more. And you have to prove that you have at least 10 million BRL to get the license. And that's a...

That's an information that I missed when talking about casinos. To have a casino in Brazil, like a land -based casino, you need to prove that you have a hundred million BRL and you'll be able to operate this land -based casino for 30 years and you can renew it for 30 more. So Jogo do Bicho is a bit less. Yeah, I gave up when I read the bills. Like, okay, no, nevermind.

Fernando Noodt (11:33.146)
There goes my project. So yeah, there goes my project. I'm not, I'm sorry guys. I'm not opening my casino in Brazil. Yeah.

I think I have like maybe $200 and a pack of gum. It's open, but I don't know. Maybe I can find an investor.

Lucía (11:48.942)
Mm -hmm.

I'm sorry.

Fernando Noodt (11:53.947)
And so let's assume this bill sails through the Senate. The Senate, the senators say, yeah, we love land based gaming. We know people have been gambling forever, even though it's, it's illegal. People have been gambling. The job of the visual is extremely popular. Like, like Issa said, let's assume this sails through the Senate. How likely is it, to, for the bill to, to get blocked or to get to face any, any issues.

Lucía (12:22.574)
Well, according to the president Lula, it's going to take a similar road than sports betting and online gaming. He says he's not in favor of it, he doesn't promote it, but he's not going to ban it to reject the project, the bill. So that's good news, I guess. He also mentioned that one of the complaints

The main of the opposition is that poor people will lose the little money they have on casinos and gaming in general. But he says that's not going to happen. But what will happen is that poor people will have more job positions to work on. So he expects that the industry opens a lot of opportunities for them.

and international tourists and other kind of citizens will participate in casinos.

Fernando Noodt (13:36.314)
Yeah, so definitely an unexpected ally in Lula saying that because of course that's the best part of legalizing the land -based gaming industry is all the jobs. It can create all the money. It will flow into the state coffers. And even though Lula had said that he was not in favor of gambling, him saying that he won't block the bill.

and highlighting all these good aspects of the industry getting legalized is definitely a good sign for the bill, for the industry, and for the future of this potential bill. But there was also some rumors about the bill maybe getting blocked by the...

by the justice system, right? There was something about a Supreme Court judge talking about it.

Lucía (14:31.574)
Mm -hmm.

Lucía (14:37.102)
Yeah,

We can't be certain about how that is going to work, but the minister of the Supreme Court, the president of the court said that they may evaluate the constitutionality of the bill. It may go through the court to see if the bill once Lula approves it as well.

They will check it out, but It's not for sure so just him opposing to it, but that's all

Fernando Noodt (15:20.697)
Yeah, so hashtag Brazil wait and see there too. So we know the president is not going to block it. We know the loud. What do you say? What do you call it? The speaker on the streets say, OK, we like this. But what does the industry say to this news? What was the reaction of the industry?

Lucía (15:23.246)
Totally.

Lucía (15:46.094)
Well, of course, the industry is happy about it. Brazil represents a lot of opportunities for the industry to grow. So the Brazilian Association of Gambling and Lotteries.

had stated that they are in favor of this bill. They find it good to regulate casinos especially because they know a lot of international investors will come to the country.

and there are a lot of opportunities especially for tourism and entertainment in general. So yeah, we are seeing a lot of support on the bill.

Fernando Noodt (16:31.543)
And then Isa, on your way to your beach tennis lesson, you probably hear a lot of the streets of what's going on in Brazil. How was the general reaction? We know the industry is on board, of course, but what was the general reaction in Brazil?

Isadora (16:36.449)
Hehehehehe

Well, the general reaction in the industry was very...

It was very positive. They really liked that the land -based casinos were approved. We were discussing that in the beginning of the year when, because this bill was first presented in 1991.

So it's been such a long time and right now is being discussed again. So in the industry is a very, it's a very positive thing. Like we were discussing that in the beginning of the year. We were discussing that in the SPC Summit North America was talking to some operators that want to operate in Brazil.

And it was something that there's a possibility, but we didn't know it was going to be that fast. But one thing that I don't see people talking about is the taxes, because they created two new taxes with this bill for the operators. So we have one that is ta fija, or in Spanish we can say ta fija. And we have si de jogos as well. So two new taxes and new destinations as well of the money.

Isadora (17:59.509)
collected. So 16 % will be to the states, another 16 % will be to the cities, 12 % will be to the Embra Tur, which is our Brazilian agency of international tourism, and 10 % for sport and 10 % to culture. So we don't talk about that.

Brazil likes taxes. We do, like a lot. I think Latin America in general. But it's something that I didn't see operators especially because this taxes is exclusively to them. Talking about this, I think we'll have more talk once the plenary approves it, hopefully. But yeah, in general, they're very happy. It was a huge step that we did towards

gathering more investment, international investment, like Fer and Lu mentioned, we never say how many jobs will be created once with sports betting and online games regulation and with this land -based casinos bill approved. So it will generate more money not only to the government but to the people. We'll see people working.

making more money, being able to live a better life. It's an industry that promotes a lot of, you need to learn, I'm sorry, you need to learn a new language if you want to work in the industry, which is a very good thing. So people will improve their skills, people will get different jobs, will get more money, will attract investors to Brazil, will have more tourism. So I think it's a win -win, seriously. And I see that in operations.

I see that in group chats and in there when they post on social media their opinions So it's I think it's a really important step that we are we're taking towards having a Like better view internationally speaking when we talk about money international money in Brazil

Fernando Noodt (20:11.606)
Yes, definitely good news for the industry, good news for Brazil, which will get, of course, more jobs, more money in taxes, and we'll definitely keep

paying attention to the development of these news because we don't know yet when this bill will be discussed by the Senate, of course. But in order to stay tuned and find out when they actually make new progress about casino and land -based gaming legislation, make sure you are subscribed to both the SBC Noticias Brazil newsletter as well as the SBC Noticias newsletter.

course, keep following the this podcast, I gaming daily, which has now come to an end for this episode. I'm sorry to break the news to you. But this is all for today. Thank you very much for listening. And we'll catch up in the next one.