Brazilian State of Amazonas Finds Difficulty Launching a State Lottery

They say that, if at first you don’t succeed, try, try again. In the case of one Brazilian state, though, it is try, try and give up. Amazonas had huge plans for a state-run Amazon Lottery, but three failed attempts at finding a suitable candidate to conduct a technical-economic feasibility study have left the state throwing in the towel.

Amazonas Frustrated over Failed Search

Across Brazil, new gambling options are starting to emerge. However, things aren’t running as smoothly as most lawmakers and gaming industry insiders would have liked. Amazonas was hoping to put together its Amazon Lottery offering before the end of this week, but is having difficulty finding an entity capable of operating it. Three candidates, three failed attempts, as not one was able to comply with even the preliminary requirements the state put forward.

The first candidate had submitted an offer of around $91,434 (R$474,000) to lead the initiative, but couldn’t present all of the required documents that Amazonas wanted. Despite providing a detailed list of requirements, the unnamed entity still wasn’t able to provide certification that it had registered with the local government or that it was prepared to deliver its procedures for how it would prepare and analyze the data.

After that candidate was rejected, Amazonas turned to another, which proposed a bid of $91,627 (R$4745,00). It was to turn in all of the supporting documents by this last Monday, but, like the first candidate, failed to gather all of the required paperwork. That led to a third candidate being considered, but it, too, wasn’t able to follow the state’s instructions and was eliminated.

Frustrated, Amazonas threw in the towel. The state’s lottery commission explained in an update, “[The] Commission determined the failure of Electronic Auction 840/21 (Implementation of the State Lottery), giving the bid as a failure, as the third bidder was unable to gather the necessary documentation to meet the requirements of the event.”

The Federal Government to Take Charge

Amazonas isn’t giving up on its lottery; it just doesn’t want to be in charge of trying to get it set up. For that, it wants the Secretary of State for Economic Development, Science, Technology and Innovation to intervene. The federal government will need to figure out how to proceed and find someone capable of following simple rules to conduct the feasibility study.

This will undoubtedly slow the process down significantly, as federal governments aren’t known for being rapid response units. However, Amazonas is still optimistic that it will be able to put a lottery solution in place, like what is being seen in Rio De Janeiro and other states around the country. In the meantime, it can continue to work on putting together its plan for sports betting, although only if it understands that it might need to be prepared to see more incomplete applications.