Brazil’s illegal betting market declined during the first half of 2026, according to a new estimate. The share of online bets placed through clandestine platforms stood at 38% to 44%, compared with 41% to 51% in research published in June 2025.
The latest assessment, “Sizing and Combating the Illegal Betting Market in Brazil,” draws on Locomotiva Institute research involving 2,291 gamblers across Brazil in May 2026. In the three months before the survey, 53% had used sites without facial recognition, while 48% had bet on platforms using .bet.br domains. The research also found that 37% deposited through credit cards and 23% used cryptocurrencies, both payment methods barred under the regulated framework.
Regulation Shows Signs Of Impact
Brazil’s betting rules took effect on January 1, 2025, limiting legal operations to licensed companies subject to tax, operational and player-protection requirements. During the first year, betting operators generated R$9.95 billion in taxes and legal allocations, while each platform paid R$30 million in concession fees. Regulated companies also invested about R$7.5 billion in share capital and were linked to an estimated 15,500 direct and indirect jobs.
Carlos Lima, executive president of the Brazilian Institute for Responsible Gaming, said the latest figures indicate that government action is beginning to affect the illegal sector.
“The numbers show that the regulations and measures adopted by the Federal Government to combat illegal platforms are beginning to produce concrete results. The observed reduction is a positive sign of the consolidation of the Brazilian regulated market. The challenge now is to continue this progress, strengthening the fight against clandestine operators and ensuring that regulatory evolution occurs with legal certainty and predictability, preventing new measures applicable exclusively to authorized operators from creating asymmetries that make the illegal market more attractive to consumers and end up directing bettors to clandestine platforms,” emphasizes Carlos Lima, executive president of IBJR.
Eric Brasil of LCA Consultores also pointed to greater certainty around the market’s size and stressed the need for continued enforcement.
Illegal Betting Remains Widespread
Among people eligible for the illegal market, women represented 51% and men 49%. The 18-29 age group accounted for 54%, while 51% earned up to two minimum wages. About 51% exclusively used informal platforms, 36% said those sites handled most of their bets, 8% associated them with roughly half of their betting activity and 6% used them for the smallest share.
Renato Meirelles, president of the Locomotiva Institute, described the reduction as limited while noting broad support for stronger action against clandestine operators.
Consumer awareness of the risks was high. Some 77% fully or partially agreed that illegal sites fail to meet responsible gambling requirements and therefore pose greater risks. Another 13% neither agreed nor disagreed, while 5% partially disagreed and 5% strongly disagreed.
Authorized platforms must use the .bet.br domain, require facial recognition and provide controls for time and financial losses. They also restrict payments to PIX and debit from the account holder’s account, while offering self-exclusion measures. IBJR directs users to betalert.com.br to check whether a betting platform is authorized.
Source:
“Study reveals that the illegal market share in the betting sector fell in the first half of 2026 compared to 2025”, ibjr.org.br, August 11, 2026