The saving grace for the Brazilian betting industry may be one simple thing … the amount of money it is providing the state in yearly tax revenue.
Brazilian betting companies are facing an increasingly confrontational political environment, with both the President and one of the major opposition parties taking shots at the industry.
However, like all governments, the Brazilian administration of President Lula da Silva needs one thing above all else – money, and the betting industry is providing bucketloads of it.
According to the Federal Revenue Service, licensed online Brazilian betting and gaming firms paid R$8.7bn (£1.2bn) between January-July 2026.
This represents growth of 76.86% against January-July 2025 – the first seven months of the regulated Brazilian betting market, which launched on 1 January 2025 following Lula’s approval in late 2024.
Revenue from January-July 2025 amounted to R$4.9bn. Total tax intake for 2025 was R$9.95bn, with operators taxed according to a 12% rate on gross gaming revenues (GGR).
Is the Brazilian betting industry on the ropes?
As expected, Brazilian betting has grown rapidly during this period, with an initial marketplace of 63 licensed companies, both domestic and international, setting up shop in January 2025.
According to Blask, Brazil is now the fourth largest betting market in the world in terms of online traffic. The biggest firms in the country are all international, according to Blask, with the top four being Kaizen Gaming’s Betano, bet365, Superbet and Entain’s Sportingbet.
This rapid growth has caught negative political attention, with politicians on both sides of the aisle concerns about societal impacts – particularly indebtedness.
Lula is now muling up whether to pull the plug on the market, and at the very least has a ban on online casino gaming in his sights. The advertising avenues for operators are also being restricted.
The leader of the right-wing Liberal Party, Flavio Bolsonaro – son of former President Jair Bolsonaro – is also considering whether to include a betting ban or at least heavy restrictions in his manifesto for the upcoming October elections.
A member of Bolsonaro’s party also proposed legislation to the Congress this week which, if approved – doubtful given that as is the case in many national legislatures most legislative proposals in Brazil do make it through voting – would put an end to the online Brazilian betting market.
However, the Brazilian government is – as stated above, like almost every national government out there – always in need of cash. The government has some costly projects underway, like a multi-billion reais housing reform plan, and needs funds to pay for it.
The government’s spending plans prompted it to increase the tax rate on betting much quicker than many in the still-young market expected. The rate will go up to 15% by next year and 18% by 2028.
However, if there is no online Brazilian betting industry to tax, the government is not going to get this money? The R$8.7bn in taxes declared this so far would surely be missed by whichever government is in control post-October…
