Brazil records US$ 7,1bn in bets and 17.7 million active bettors in 2025
With regulation advancing and the market continuing to expand, the gaming and betting sector in Brazil already generates around US$ 7,1 billion per year in revenue. This figure is according to data presented by consultancy H2 Gambling Capital during Casa Brasil, which took place during ICE Barcelona this week. Even so, almost a third of this activity occurs outside the legal system, on unlicensed platforms. The presentation was conducted by Ed Birkin, Managing Director of H2 Gambling Capital, and brought together authorities, operators and specialists to discuss the direction of the industry in Brazil, one of the most promising markets in Latin America.
Despite the new regulatory structure that came into force in January 2025, with the creation of rules for sports betting and iGaming, the participation of unlicensed platforms is still high. By combining multiple sources (research with bettors, transaction data from the Central Bank via Pix and online traffic metrics), H2 Gambling Capital estimates that around US$ 2,8 billion in gross revenue (GGR) per year is generated outside the regulated market. This is equivalent to approximately 30% of the total sector in Brazil.
According to BNLData, other studies support this data. A survey by Instituto Locomotiva pointed out that 61% of Brazilian bettors used illegal sites in 2025, often without knowing how to differentiate between licensed and irregular platforms. This data, however, clashes with the declared preference of users. In the H2 survey, 60% of respondents stated that they value the use of licensed platforms, although around 30% do not know how to verify the legality of a site, and 20% indicate that bonus offers are more important than the licence itself. Only 3% admit to consciously choosing an unlicensed site.
The behaviour of bettors
The profile of the Brazilian bettor is shaping this expanding market. Official data from the Secretariat of Prizes and Betting of the Ministry of Finance show that 17.7 million Brazilians participated in fixed-odds betting only in the first half of 2025, with an average spending of around US$ 31 per month per active bettor. This audience tends to be, for the most part, male and young, with a significant share of users between 18 and 40 years old.
Despite its popularity, some of these users still find it difficult to distinguish legal from irregular operators. According to another survey released in 2025, around 78% of respondents consider it difficult to identify whether a platform has a licence, a factor that continues to drive betting on unregulated sites.
International comparison
International specialists who were present at Casa Brasil drew attention to an important point: the participation of legal platforms in mature markets is usually much higher. Countries such as the United Kingdom, Italy and Australia channel between 60% and 85% of bets in regulated channels, even with high tax burdens and strong operational restrictions. In the Netherlands, for example, after imposing strict rules on advertising and betting limits, the participation of regulated operators fell from 69% to around 50%, with the illegal market growing in parallel, a warning that excessively restrictive regulation may have unintended consequences.
In Brazil, the challenge is to combine an efficient fiscal structure, well-defined rules and technological oversight to integrate as many bets as possible into the formal market, both to increase revenue and to protect the consumer.
Revenue, taxation and the future of the sector
Despite the scenario of illegality, official figures demonstrate the economic potential of the regulated sector. In the first half of 2025, the legal market generated US$ 3,26 billion in gross gaming revenue (GGR), with relevant contributions of around US$ 712 million in taxes and more than US$ 375 million in licence and supervision fees.
Specialists estimate that, with the strengthening of regulation and effective policies to combat the illegal market, including the blocking of sites, restrictions on financial transactions and awareness campaigns, the formal market may grow even further in the coming years. Projections by H2 Gambling Capital suggest that, by 2027, licensed operators may account for up to 93% of the GGR of the online sector, provided that supervision and compliance with the rules are consistently improved.
Another point of attention is the balance between player protection and a competitive environment. Regulating without stiffling growth, supervising without hindering the development of technology and services, and offering clarity to the consumer about the risks and benefits of betting on legal platforms.
This article was first published in Portuguese on 21 January 2026.
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