At long last, regulated and legalized sports betting is live today in Brazil. Here’s what bettors can expect.
To open accounts, bettors will need to be at least 18 years old, provide Individual Taxpayer Registration (CPF) information, and agree to the use of facial recognition. Bettors will not be able to fund accounts using credit. And bettors won’t be eligible for sign-up bonuses.
While sign-up may be a bit daunting at first, bettors will be met with a competitive array of operators offering a full slate of sporting events.
The Sports:
Football will likely be Brazil’s most heavily bet on sport. Operators, however, will be eligible to offer a full complement of sporting events, including cricket, basketball, boxing, tennis, and baseball.
In fact, Brazil will allow fixed-odds betting on any sport recognized by the International Olympic Committee, including many paralympic sports. So, everything from skiing and sailing to a number of martial arts and equestrian events, will be fair game.
The Operators:
At least 68 online gaming and 67 sports betting licenses have received final approval for the launch, according to Brazil’s Ministry of Finance. Brazil’s bettors will find some well-known global names among them, including Entain’s brands Betboo and SportingBet, MGM Resorts’ LeoVegas, Flutter Entertainment’s Betfair, bet365, and Stake.com.
Flutter Entertainment will have additional exposure to the Brazilian market now that it owns a majority stake in NSX Group, the fourth largest operator in Brazil. NSX is the parent company of NSX Brasil SA and Betnacional.
Operators can expect ample government oversight in their first year of operation. Money laundering prevention will be a big priority. But the most important issue, at least according to Brazil’s president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, will be to protect Brazilians from gambling addiction. In fact, Lula is so concerned about that issue, that he has threatened to ban online sports betting if regulation fails to prevent families from gambling beyond their means.
The Background:
It’s been a long road for legalized and regulated sports betting in Brazil. While it has been technically legal since 2018, passing the necessary regulatory framework was slow to find political traction. As a result, the gaming industry operated in a legal gray area, without taxation or regulation and the gambling market exploded. In fact, in 2022, Brazil became the global leader in online gambling and 10th globally in total gaming revenue.
Finally, in December 2023, Lula signed Bill PL3626/23, paving the way to today’s launch. Within months, all the big international operators were vying for licenses.
In preparation for today’s launch, Brazil has been cracking down on unlicensed and illegal operators. In September, Brazil’s Finance Minister announced that the government would start restricting illegal operators beginning in October. By mid-October, Brazil had blocked more than 2,000 unauthorized online gambling websites.
At this point, Brazil is as ready as it can be for the next chapter of its sports betting history. Operators are counting on what will arguably be the largest gambling market to provide growth for years to come. And Brazil’s bettors are hoping for just a little luck as they navigate their newly regulated gambling landscape.
