After years of legislative processing and significant advancements, especially during 2024, the long-awaited regulation of the fixed-odds betting market in Brazil took place at the beginning of January.
The sector, which has been rapidly expanding in recent years, promises exponential growth in 2025. The National Lottery Games Association (ANJL in Portuguese) estimates that legalized bookmakers will generate over R$ 20 billion in taxes and fees to the Federal Revenue Office throughout the year—considering the number of operators, betting volume, and taxes applicable to the sector.
At the end of December 2024, the Ministry of Finance’s Prize and Betting Office published a list of companies authorized to operate in the regulated market. Initially, definitive licenses were granted to 14 companies, covering 30 betting websites and online casinos. An additional 52 companies received temporary authorization to operate, with an extension period for submitting pending documentation, totaling 109 active websites in the country.
The Brazilian Telecommunications Agency (Anatel), with SPA, also signed an important Technical Cooperation Agreement (ACT in Portuguese) to enable a swift and coordinated blocking of websites unauthorized to operate fixed-odds betting. Initially, the ACT will be in effect for 24 months and may be extended by the parties.
Anatel has been actively cooperating with authorities at various levels. In December, the agency participated in the decision-making meeting of the Senate's Parliamentary Committee of Investigation (CPI in Portuguese) on Bets, proposing changes to its legal competencies and the modernization of the Civil Internet Framework (MCI) to impose civil and administrative liability on providers and applications on the internet that fail to comply with court or administrative orders.
With the betting regulation in effect since January 1, all authorized companies are also required to comply with the rules established by the Ministry of Finance, including obtaining the registration of domain “bet.br” so that operations occur exclusively on websites dedicated to the sector. Although some “.com.br” domains are still active during the adaptation and migration period, they may not offer bets to customers after the implementation of the regulated market.
The Senate's movement with the CPI on Bets is a good example of what to expect in the coming months, especially regarding legislative activity and regulatory bodies, which will increasingly work together with the Ministry of Finance and SPA to enforce the newly established regulation in the sector.
