Online betting activity in Brazil increased by 90% in the first quarter of 2025 compared to the previous quarter

If you’ve been keeping an eye on Brazil’s digital economy, you’ve probably noticed that online betting is booming. A report was released recently claiming that iGaming sites received over five billion visits in the first quarter of 2025 alone. This means that over 600 pages are accessed per second.

Interestingly, the frequency of these web visits can fill Maracana, with its more than 78,000 seats, in just two minutes. Maracana is a stadium mainly used to host football matches between top clubs in Rio de Janeiro. Besides the convenience of online platforms, regulatory updates have also played a significant role in this growth.

After new regulations were enforced in January 2025, betting sites witnessed about 1.7 billion visits. Although the numbers fell slightly to 1.4 billion in February, the following month saw them hit 1.8 billion – the highest ever recorded in one month. But is this trend likely to continue? Well, keep reading to find out.

A legal green light

When something previously frowned upon suddenly becomes official, it’s like opening the floodgates. And that’s exactly what happened in this country at the beginning of 2025, after it started implementing the updated regulations in the betting industry. About two years ago (in 2023), Brazil approved Law 17.790/23, allowing private companies to operate both online and physical sports wagering.

Until then, players would only wager in lottery shops. But now that any private company can operate sports betting, more fans can participate conveniently, fueling the industry’s further growth. Besides that, bookmakers are required to pay a R$30 million licensing fee to operate in the region legally.

To further improve safety, the Brazilian government, in conjunction with the National Telecommunications Agency, has been working hard to block unauthorized websites since October 2024. It has also been partnering with financial institutions to monitor and restrict fund transfers to these sites. Can you imagine that more than 2,000 illegal betting sites have been suspended so far because of this move?

For players, that means improved safety, which could lead to many remaining loyal. Of course, with the rising number of online security incidents, no one wants to be a victim of circumstances. Thanks to these regulatory updates, Brazilians can now wager with peace of mind, allowing them to remain connected with online platforms.

How have tech improvements helped?

Did you know that more than 143 million people in Brazil alone own smartphones? These individuals may, of course, want to use the devices to access different services, including sports betting. And no one would like to keep pinching or zooming websites just because they use devices with smaller screen sizes.

That’s why companies in the broader iGaming sector are turning to responsive designs to ensure Brazilians enjoy seamless experiences when placing bets using their phones. Even for the best online casinos in Brazil, things are no different. These designs are handy as they always adjust automatically to fit various screen sizes. And since 74% of users easily return to such websites, seeing the Brazilian sports betting sector expand rapidly actually makes sense.

Pix is another factor driving this massive growth. Launched by the country's central bank towards the end of 2020, the system is the most popular payment method in Brazil, with over 155 million users. Interestingly, Pix allows you to transfer amounts as low as R$0.01 from any financial institution for free at any time of the day.

Reports by Associação Nacional de Jogos e Loterias (ANJL) claim that sports betting transactions accounted for a significant share of the R$12 billion moved on the platform in 2023. According to ANJL’s president, Lincoln Rocha, these recent regulations will only increase Pix’s role in the ecosystem.

Don’t forget that effective payment methods can help improve customer retention. In fact, studies show they can improve retention capacity by up to 15%. And since Pix is seamless and efficient, more operators could adopt it with the aim of taking advantage of this statistic.

What should you look forward to?

You may be surprised to learn that, according to some professionals, Brazil has been losing about $173 million to illegal sites every month. And mark you: this comes at a time when the Central Bank predicts that monthly bets could hit R$30 billion by the end of 2025. Failing to tax this kind of activity would represent a major missed opportunity.

However, through the recent regulatory updates, the government now has mechanisms to capture more of this revenue, which it can use for national development. Financial institutions will be required to use the Electronic Information System (SEI) on the gov.br to report dubious transactions within 24 hours. Imagine that this level of accountability could generate between 6 and 12 billion reais in yearly tax revenue for Brazil.

Over 60,000 jobs are also expected to be created in areas related to online gaming, such as advertising and law. The legalization of the industry will also attract security-conscious investors, who prefer interacting with a stable legal framework.

Considering all these factors, the online sports betting industry could actually expand even more in the coming days. Since many internet users, including bettors, have become security conscious, regulating the sector could foster exploration.

This is just one reason the sector is expanding. Tech improvements like responsive designs have helped sportsbooks reach more people, especially smartphone users.