Few topics are off limits in the iGamingDaily podcast – throughout the week the show covers all aspects of the industry, from land-based casinos to Latin American sponsorship.
CasinoBeats’ key takeaways brings some of the highlights from the week’s run of shows, with this edition featuring some long-awaited regulatory progress from Brazil and a real roll of the dice in Vegas.
‘A great move’ lauded as progress made in Brazil
In what has been something of a turbulent roadmap for the regulatory framework of gambling in Brazil, progress was finally made within igaming legislation in Brazil.
Taxation was previously touted as a key sticking point for the progression of the bill, but in the framework endorsed by Finance Minister Fernando Haddad, Brazil’s federal market will apply a 12 per cent tax on licensed operators and 15 per cent tax on player prizes.
On the iGamingDaily, SBC Noticias Brazil’s Journalist, Isadora Marcante joined James Ross, to discuss the developments.
Marcante expressed her belief that the drop in tax was ‘a great move’, with the previously mooted rate of 18 per cent simply being too much for the industry to bear.
She added that this view came from a market that had delivered a vocal backlash to high tax rates in the region. The decision to heed market calls for lower taxation was hailed as a good move by Marcante, who revealed that it could lead to an influx of businesses coming into the jurisdiction.
The panel also analysed the rate on player taxes, with Ross emphasising that a win for the consumer is also always a positive step. Marcante cited significant miscalculations from the Chamber of Deputies as the reason for the original tax from player winnings being so high and subsequently being halved in the latest round of amendments.
After much back and forth, the Senate will forward the Bill to the Plenary of the Superior Electoral Court to be voted into federal law – expected to take place the week commencing 28 November.
Tribes and tribulations
In a Thanksgiving special, Jessica Welman and Charlie Horner provided a deep dive on the country’s relationship with its indigenous populations.
Welman noted that Brett Kavanaugh, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, will be on heightened alert amid the ongoing situation in Florida, where the Seminole Tribe has soft-launched Hard Rock Bet despite ongoing legal challenges from West Flagler and Associates. Kavanaugh believes that there are “serious equal protection issues” if the Seminoles get exclusive sports betting rights in Florida, even off tribal territory. Welman added that with the state enabling this to happen, questions over IGRA violations will be raised and calls for interrogation from state-wide leaders will increase.
All eyes will turn to the state court as potential equal protection infringements are magnified as the litigation process rumbles on.
The pair also discuss a move to introduce tribal sports betting in California, though the people involved in the measure are not part of a tribe at all, but instead have been labelled “bros”.
Shifting sporting gears in Las Vegas
Las Vegas played host to its debut F1 event last weekend as the iGamingDaily reflected on whether the appetite for sporting events in the region is dwindling.
Whilst a racing weekend went off with much commotion, it eventually led to a unique and spectacular sporting spectacle. However, the show questioned whether fans and residents will be as glowing about the long term nature of Sin City’s 10-year commitment to F1.
Nonetheless, the panel was in agreement that at the end of the NFL season, when the Super Bowl behemoth checks into Vegas, it is all set for a monumental occasion – providing a major boost to resorts and casinos across the region.
UK White Paper overhaul heads into new year
As the UK slowly limbers towards new regulation, the Policy and Public Affairs Director of the Gambling Commission, Tim Miller, revealed that a further seven consultations have been made to progress its regulatory review of the recommendations made by UK Gambling’s White Paper.
Booked for a 12-week period, the UKGC plans to close its next series of consultations by February-to-March of 2024.
SBCNews Editor Edward Menmuir detailed that socially responsible incentives, customer-led tools, transparency of customer fund protection, annual financial contributions to research, prevention, and treatment, regulatory data reporting, financial penalties, and financial key event reporting, will be pinpointed in the Commission’s next seven consultations.
Menmuir described the move as an indication we are moving into a more technical level of consultations, as the industry looks to gauge a deeper understanding of which direction the gambling industry is going to shift and how this is going to be reflected in the policies.
He went on to underline that amidst third quarterly results being released, all the signs point to those who can adapt the fastest are the ones who will thrive in the UK market.
