Superbet launches Superlinha and spends R$ 60 million on gambling addiction support in Brazil

Superbet has launched a 24-hour phone and WhatsApp helpline for people with gambling addiction, backed by a R$ 60 million advertising campaign that will run across TV, social media and stadium inventory. For high-risk operators and PSPs, the useful detail is not the ad spend itself; it is that a licensed brand is tying player support, paid media and regulated-operator positioning into one very public package.

1. Launched on Monday (31/8), the “Superlinha” service is available 24 hours a day by phone and WhatsApp. Users are referred to the IPJ (Instituto de Proteção ao Jogador), a unit created by betting companies and receiving additional funding from Superbet.
2. The support network includes social workers, psychologists and psychiatrists, and has initial capacity for up to 3,500 monthly consultations. Superbet said it will adjust that scale depending on demand.
3. The company said the Superlinha campaign is a R$ 60 million media investment, its second-largest in Superbet’s history, behind only its World Cup advertising push. Alexandre Fonseca, Superbet’s CEO, said he cannot pin down the campaign’s full total, and noted that a 30-second spot in Globo’s 7 p.m. soap opera costs about R$ 600 mil according to the broadcaster’s rate card.
4. Distribution will also run through social media and stadiums where Superbet is a sponsor, including São Paulo’s stadium. “We’re going to use the full media arsenal we have here at Superbet,” Fonseca said.
5. Fonseca rejected the idea that the campaign is commercially motivated. He argued that gambling harm should be addressed through consumer education rather than tighter restrictions, and said banning betting ads would put regulated sportsbooks — which paid R$ 30 million for a licence and follow anti-addiction rules — on the same footing as illegal brands.

The high-risk context is clear enough: Brazil’s 2025 National Survey on Alcohol and Drugs estimated about 1.4 million Brazilians, or 0.8% of the population, have symptoms compatible with a probable diagnosis of Gambling Disorder. Psychiatrist Rodrigo Machado of Hospital das Clínicas said the share of players at risk of developing the condition is above 7% in Brazil, versus 1% to 3% in other countries.