Brazil’s shock betting ban has drawn fierce criticism from industry insiders who argue it will drive players directly into the arms of illegal platforms.
From 6 October, the 85 companies that each paid R$30m to operate legally in Brazil must go offline under Provisional Measure 1,394/2026.
Industry executives speaking to NEXT.io are united in their diagnosis: the only real winners of the ban are those who never paid anything to begin with.
In the days following the measure, hundreds or even thousands of unlicensed betting sites were newly detected operating inside the country, according to differing reports.
Most companies have avoided speaking individually, with the sector’s official position largely left to the National Association of Games and Lotteries, known as ANJL.
Tiago Almeida, CEO of iGaming platform OddsGate, argued bluntly that the ban does nothing to eliminate the underlying demand for sports betting in Brazil.
“Twenty-five million CPFs placed bets in 2025,” Almeida said, adding: “That demand is Brazilian, it doesn’t ask the Planalto for permission, and it won’t disappear.”
Almeida warned that any licensed operator forced to exit the market “hands the market to those who never paid a licence fee,” leaving consumers with no regulated alternative.
He also flagged a bill sent to Congress alongside the measure that, in his reading, provides for two to four years in prison for anyone supplying an internet application for betting.
“Those who built to comply with the law become potential defendants; those who never complied stay offshore and are unreachable,” Almeida said.
Valter Delfraro Jr., director of regulatory affairs at OddsGate, expressed serious doubts about whether blocking transfers to betting sites through Brazil’s government-run payments system Pix would prove effective in practice.
Fellipe Fraga, CBO of Stellar Gaming, the holding company behind EstrelaBet and Vupi, said the regulated sector was now paying for problems caused by those who never followed the rules in the first place.
The situation leaves Brazil’s licensed operators in a difficult position, having invested heavily to meet state requirements only to face forced suspension alongside persistent illegal competition.
