Brazil pol: narrow expansion push to casinos, online gambling

A key Brazilian legislator is urging his fellow deputies to narrow their gaming expansion focus to just land-based casinos and online gambling.

On Thursday, Rodrigo Maia, the president of Brazil’s Chamber of Deputies, urged his fellow legislators to prioritize a select few gambling expansion options in order to streamline debate and give gambling legislation a better chance of passing before the current legislative session expires on July 17.

For years now, Brazil has been attempting to pass legislation that would dramatically expand the scope of legal gaming in South America’s largest market. But bickering stakeholders and anti-gambling prudes have so far prevented any forward progression of these initiatives.

On Thursday, Maia (pictured) urged legislators to forego further debate on expansion items such as bingo halls, slots outside casinos and lotteries, focusing instead on two items: integrated resort casinos and online gambling.