Brazil dismantles regulated betting market, pushing more than 30 million bettors into the illegal market

Brazil has, according to the Associação Nacional de Jogos e Loterias (ANJL), reversed course on one of the biggest regulated betting expansions in the country’s history. The association says a Federal Government provisional measure ends legalized bets and hands more than 30 million bettors to thousands of illegal sites — exactly the kind of move PSPs and high-risk operators read as a signal on regulatory stability.

1. ANJL says the decision was taken on Friday, 25, less than two years after Brazil made its biggest advance in the betting market. In its view, the country is now back to the 2018 position, except with thousands of clandestine sites already operating in the background.
2. The association frames the change as a direct hit to licensed operators and to the legal framework that supported them. It says companies paid outorgas (license fees) that granted the right to offer fixed-odds betting services for five years, and that the abrupt reversal signals complete legal uncertainty to international investors.
3. ANJL says the regulated industry had created thousands of jobs in Brazil, with offices opened and numerous events held across a wider supply chain of workers. It also says the sector generated almost R$ 10 billion in tax revenue in the first half of 2026 alone, money that would otherwise have gone to health, social security, sports, public security and other areas.
4. Plínio Lemos Jorge, ANJL’s president, said the association is already taking legal steps to challenge the provisional measure. He said a reimbursement claim would cover not only the R$ 30 million outorga, but also damages for the investments made in the country and moral damages.
5. ANJL says it is also gathering data to measure the impact not only on betting companies and their employees, but on the broader ecosystem of businesses tied to the sector. For PSPs and acquirers, that matters because the pain does not stop at the operator MID; it tends to spread to the vendors, support firms, and payment flows around it.

ANJL was launched in March 2023 and says it represents betting interests, responsible gaming, and sports-related development. Its members include Aposta Ganha Loterias and Fast Gaming.