Gambling of all types, including sports gambling, continues to gain more support around the world. Legalizing the activity helps ensure that governments can get a piece of the action, as opposed to all of it going to illegal operations, and can provide better support for gambling problem programs. Brazil is in the process of grappling with several gambling expansion bills and had already decided that sports gambling could be beneficial for the entire country. The activity was legalized in 2018, paving the way for officials to begin putting the necessary legal and operational frameworks in place. However, that process is now on hold, as priorities move from expansion to containment. Expansion of gambling is taking a back seat to containment of the coronavirus.

Brazil’s former president, Michel Temer, signed off on sports gambling in December 2018 when he approved a bill, PM 846, that had been supported by both the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate. With the go-ahead firmly in place, government officials were then given two years to put together the framework to roll out the activity. Progress has been made, but there have still been disagreements over how many sportsbooks should be allowed. This has already slowed down the approval process significantly.

COVID-19 has turned the tables on a lot of initiatives that were seeking legislation approval in governments around the world. As efforts have switched over to providing health and economic relief, lawmakers have little time to consider much of anything else. This has made crafting sports gambling regulations in Brazil a non-priority.

It’s a difficult situation for the country’s lawmakers to be in right now, as one of the main reasons for approving sports gambling was to attract more revenue for the country’s wallet. It now needs that income more than ever, but a decrease in available disposable cash on the part of citizens means that the amount of money the state draws wouldn’t be as great if lawmakers were to introduce the necessary frameworks now.