Brazil Shuts Down 2,000 Betting Sites Amid Rising Concerns About Online Gambling

Finance Minister Fernando Haddad described the situation as a “betting pandemic,” highlighting the government’s concerns over unregulated gambling since Brazil legalized sports betting in 2018. Until now, the online gambling landscape has largely existed without stringent rules or tax oversight.

While many sites focus on traditional sports betting, a significant number of Brazilians have also become captivated by games such as Aviator, which involves wagering on the trajectory of a virtual airplane, and the online casino game Fortune Tiger.

President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva’s administration is cracking down on sites that have not complied with new regulations set to take effect in January. These regulations aim to curb fraud and money laundering and to safeguard users, notably by prohibiting minors from participating in betting activities.

“Anyone who is not regularized, or in the process of being regularized, is being taken off the air,” Haddad stated. The Finance Ministry has flagged 2,040 “suspicious domains,” urging the telecom regulatory agency Anatel to block them.

Among those on the blacklist are Esportes da Sorte, a sponsor of Corinthians, as well as other clubs like Athletico Paranaense, Bahia, and Grêmio de Porto Alegre. The ministry confirmed that these sites would be barred from advertising, including sponsorship agreements with football clubs.

Conversely, over 200 other sites that have agreed to the new regulations will be permitted to continue operating. According to Brazil’s central bank, approximately 24 million of the country’s 212 million residents—about one in nine—engage in online gambling. Lula has previously cautioned that this trend has led many low-income Brazilians into debt.