President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva declared an outright ban on online betting in Brazil on Friday, sending shockwaves through the global iGaming industry.
The decision has caught major operators and suppliers off guard, given how dramatically Brazil’s gambling market had grown since being legalised two years ago.
The Blask Index placed Brazil’s competitive earnings baseline at $9.5bn, while more than R$8.7bn (£1.2bn) in betting taxes were declared in the first half of 2026 alone.
Operators including Flutter Entertainment, Betano, Superbet and bet365, alongside suppliers like Playtech, Kambi and Evolution, had all classified Brazil as a strategically important market.
Flutter’s Chief Financial Officer, Rob Coldrake, had recently described Brazil as a market where the company continued to see “huge growth opportunities” going forward.
Lula’s sudden decision effectively extinguished any prospect of those opportunities materialising, dealing a significant blow to companies that had invested heavily in the regulated market.
A Flutter spokesperson said the company received the news with “surprise and great concern”, calling it “a measure that could represent the prohibition or dismantling of an activity authorised and regulated by the Brazilian State itself.”
The spokesperson added: “Brazil decided to regulate this market, establishing rules, authorizations, and oversight mechanisms,” underlining the contradiction in the government’s position.
Allwyn confirmed that its subsidiary Betano is now evaluating all available legal options, including a potential lawsuit to protect the rights of its five-year contract issued by the Secretariat of Bets and Prizes.
That licence came into effect on 1 January 2025, following Lula’s own decision to greenlight the regulated betting market in December 2024, making the ban all the more striking.
Allwyn also warned that its previous FY26 guidance of 37% in Adjusted EBITDA would no longer be applicable if the ban remained in place by year’s end.
The company stated: “This assessment remains preliminary and is subject to ongoing review as the company continues to evaluate the implications of the measure and potential mitigating actions.”
Werner Becher, CEO of Sweden-listed iGaming supplier Kambi, also expressed disappointment, warning that “prohibition risks driving consumers towards black market alternatives.”
Becher acknowledged that the direct financial damage to Kambi would be limited, given that Brazil “represents a low single-digit percentage of Kambi’s revenue.”
Kambi had recently delivered its Odds Feed+ product to Brazilian operator Rei do Pitaco, underscoring the supplier’s active commitment to the now-threatened market.
The broader industry consensus is clear: Lula’s ban risks undoing years of regulatory progress and pushing Brazilian bettors toward unregulated offshore platforms.
