The Brazilian Government has agreed to push back a ban on international simulcasting at Brazil’s racetracks after a legal appeal from track owners warning that such a ban would lead to the ‘total collapse’ of the Brazilian racing industry.

Despite the undoubted potential of the Brazilian market, only lottery games and race horse betting are legal in Brazil. However, this framework could change in the near future as a bill that will legalize bingo and electronic bingo machines will be voted on soon.

The future of Brazil’s oldest state lottery has been thrown into doubt after São Paulo’s governor last week ordered the suspension of all games pending next month’s takeover of Nossa Caixa, the state-owned bank and current lottery operator of the lottery, by Banco do Brasil.

Brazil’s bingo halls and slot machine parlours have the potential to become some of the biggest sectors of the Latin American gaming industry. However, the lack of clear regulation and links between operators and high-profile political scandals has led to bingo operators becoming entangled in a continuous conflict with the Brazilian government over the last three years, known as the “Bingo War”. Gamblingcompliance.com looks at bingo’s recent regulatory history, and the prospects for peace.

Unsubstantiated claims of corruption and money laundering amongst Brazilian lottery employees made earlier this year have prompted a wholesale review of existing lottery regulations, to be conducted by the country’s Financial Activities Control Board.

The operator of Brazil’s national lottery has announced plans to sell its ten lottery products directly over the internet for the first time in 2009 as part of a series of reforms designed to further boost lottery sales that are projected to surpass the US$2.5bn mark over the course of the year.

Recent legal developments have breathed ‘new life’ into a previously dormant state lottery sector now looking to expand, believes the director of the state lottery in Minas Gerais, where Intralot has scored its second major Brazilian lottery contract.

A Supreme Court judge has refused to prosecute a legal complaint against the state lottery in Rio de Janeiro following claims that the lottery’s expansion towards keno-style gaming is unconstitutional.

National lottery operator Caixa Econômica Federal do Brasil has conceded that a sports lottery game launched earlier this year is failing to achieve its goal of assisting Brazilian football clubs in paying off massive debts owed to the federal government. Politicians are now mulling over a restructuring of the football lottery game, as bills to regulate other forms of gambling make little headway in Brasilia.

The year 2007 has been a dark time for the Brazilian slot machine industry, with thousands of machines seized by police after a Supreme Court decision effectively confirmed their illegal status. However, significant regulatory progress elsewhere has gone some way towards mitigating the loss of what should be South America’s most important gambling market.