The Loteria do Estado do Rio de Janeiro, the official entity that manages gambling in the Brazilian state, has started the process to incorporate new gambling modalities in its offering. The publication in the Official Gazette of Rio de Janeiro calls for sports betting and lottery operators interested in being in charge of these verticals.
According to BNL Data, the process aims at attracting companies able to create betting and lottery products, both online and land-based. To be able to offer these modalities, including betting on sports events, they must demonstrate their distribution and marketing capacity.
Loterj will evaluate the companies’ proposals, as well as how they would execute their marketing campaigns and how they would brand their products. The license, which will be valid for 60 months, is worth approximately $50m.
After receiving the proposals, Loterj will launch the public tender process in the lowest “overall price” modality on July 5. According to the announcement, “the development of a technological platform, including the development of lottery control, payment and ecommerce functions through physical or digital tools, will be defined by Loterj.”
Furthermore, one of the requirements to operate sports betting and lottery products in Rio de Janeiro is that international companies must partner with a Brazilian entity, which would be the leading one in the consortium. In addition, each member of the consortium must individually meet the requirements by submitting supporting documentation.
Rio de Janeiro, along with Minas Gerais, is one of the first states to address sports betting operations and expanded gambling modalities. This arises from a request made by state Deputy Alexandre Knoploch to authorise Loterj to operate the sports betting sector.
The project contemplates transferring the funds collected under the same system in which Loterj currently operates its lotteries while establishing that the revenue would be subject to income tax, as set by federal legislation.
“This bill is important as there is a growing number of gambling sites that, despite operating in Brazil, they do so illegally and have their data hosted in other countries, outside of the national jurisdiction,” said Knoploch.
Earlier this month, Loteria Mineira (LEMG) also announced that it would operate new lottery options including passive games, numerical lottery, sports prediction lottery, instant lottery and fixed-odds betting lottery (sports betting).
Currently, Intralot do Brasil Trade in Equipment and Computer Programs Ltda (Intralot), Thorsborg do Brasil Consultoria em Tecnología Ltda and International Gaming Technology Brasil Data Services (IGT) – Scientific Games Brasil Ltda are competing for the licenses that LEMG will grant to operate these games.
