The Secretariat of Prizes and Bets (SPA), has revealed full economic results for 2025, tracking the first year of Brazil’s online gambling regime of ‘Bets’.
SPA data shared with SBC Noticias revealed that gross gaming revenue (GGR) for the regulated betting market stood at R$37bn (£5bn/€5.8bn) for 2025.
The regulated market, known as ‘Bets’, was launched on 1 January 2025 following over a decade of revision undertaken by separate administrations of Michel Temer (Democrats), Jair Bolsonaro (Liberal) and Lula Da Silva (PT)
A total of 68 licences were approved for the January 2025 launch, and this number began to steadily creep up over the following months as the SPA processed the literal hundreds of applications it had received. At the end of the year, 79 firms held licences.
Brazil’s black market battle
Ever since day one of the Bets market, Brazil’s regulated industry found itself battling lingering black market operators, many of which had been operating in the country for years and were deeply entrenched.
At the SBC Summit Rio, occurring around a month after the market went live, addressing the black market was listed as a key priority by various attendees including operators, suppliers, regulators, lawyers, and policymakers and legislators.
By the end of 2025, the Ministry of Finance stated that its monitoring and auditing of financial institutions and payment institutions had led to 1,255 reports made by the SPA concerning 1,687 people suspected of making payments to illegal betting companies. This led to 550 bank accounts being closed, 265 of which had been identified as illegal.
However, the legal market is not entirely squeaky clean – as with any market, licensing infractions can and do occur, leading to regulatory action. The SPA’s Undersecretariat for Monitoring and Inspection registered 132 cases involving 133 betting companies, with application of penalties in progress in 80 cases.
Also, over 25,000 illegal websites were blocked in 2025 while 412 inspection processes were conducted against digital influencers, leading to the removal of 324 influencer profiles and 229 publications. Influencers in particular had been noted as a key marketing tool for illegal operators.
“The year 2025 marked the first time the State was fully present in this market,” said Regis Dudena, the Secretary of Prizes and Betting at the Ministry of Finance. “Data was received, allowing for an objective understanding of the sector, in addition to monitoring tools to track compliance with the established rules.
“We have economic data and information on individuals, which helps us prevent gambling problems and allows us to act in coordination with other bodies, such as the Ministries of Health, Sports, and Justice.
“In addition, there have been improvements, such as the Centralized Self-Exclusion Platform, which allows bettors to withdraw from the gambling environment and stop receiving targeted advertising.”
Player profiles
In addition to the black market battle, the SPA has had one of other key objectives in 2025, this being, unsurprisingly, consumer protection. This is an area that has become a much wider political issue also.
Concerns around financially vulnerable people gambling in the Bets marketplace have abounded in particular. This led to a ban on recipients of state benefits like Bolsa Familia, the largest welfare programme in South America, from betting.
According to data from the Central Bank, at least R$3bn had been transferred to betting accounts via the Pix instant payments system by Bolsa Familia recipients. Stats like this fueled concerns about financially vulnerable people gambling, and Bolsa Familia recipients were banned from gambling last year.
A Centralised Self-Exclusion Platform was introduced in December 2025, with 153,000 requests for registration in the first 20 days of its existence. The SPA has now received more than 217,000 self-exclusion requests.
Concerns around player protection, vulnerabilities and gambling’s societal impact are likely to continue throughout 2026, however. This may be particularly the case with gambling and young people, which make up a solid chunk of the 25.2 million Brazilians who bet in the regulated market in 2025.
SPA data shows that the largest number of bettors were aged between 31 and 40 in 2025, equating to 28.6%. This group was followed by those aged 18-24 and 25-30 at 22.7%, 41-50 at 16.7%, 51-60 at 6.6% and over 61 at 2.7%. On a gender basis, men are by far the biggest customers representing 68.3% of the market, as opposed to 31.7% being female.
The SPA’s Dudena concluded: “Since its creation, the Secretariat has been undergoing a consistent evolutionary curve. In 2024, we structured the market rules; in 2025, we advanced in monitoring and oversight, in addition to working intensively to combat illegal activities.
“In 2026, these activities should continue and develop even further, to guarantee the protection of people and the popular economy. It is important to make it clear that regulation exists to be observed.
“The SPA will be attentive to its compliance, and those who do not comply will be subject to the penalties provided for by law and regulation.”
The tax task
As it heads into 2026, Brazil’s betting market finds itself growing at a rapid rate, as expected, and becoming increasingly competitive. It is also finding the regulations and policies around it evolving rapidly, with tax changes in particular coming sooner than expected.
According to figures released last week by the Federal Revenue Bureau (FRB), gambling tax revenue leaped in 2025, as expected given the regulation of the sector. The tax intake rose from R$91m in 2024 to R$9.9bn last year, with R$2.5bn collected in authorisation fees and R$95.5m in inspection fees.
A new tax framework approved by the President in the final days of 2025 will see the rate increase from 12% to 15% by 2027 and to 18% by 2028. Some policymakers also want to see a 15% tax on customer deposits introduced.
Taxation will stand out as the biggest challenge for the regulated market in 2026, testing its financial capabilities and ability to react.
Last week, President Lula placed responsibility for the shortcomings of Brazil’s Bets regime on former president Bolsonaro, arguing that the liberal administration had failed to safeguard the country’s most vulnerable families from gambling harms.
Brazil is set to head to the polls in October 2026, with the Liberal Party widely expected to position Jair Bolsonaro’s son, Flávio, as new leader. The stage will be for the winning party to shape the country’s social direction and economic policy, as candidates offer sharply contrasting ideologies for Brazil’s future, with no common ground.