Brazil reports more than 47,000 illegal betting sites blocked after nationwide ban

Brazil says it blocked more than 47,000 illegal betting websites between 25 September and 6 November 2026, as the federal government started enforcing its ban on fixed-odds betting. For PSPs, acquirers and operators, the important part is not the headline count itself, but the fact that Brazil moved from rulemaking to active disruption of access, deposits and advertising.

1. The latest figures came from the Secretariat of Prizes and Betting (SPA), which operates under Brazil's Ministry of Finance. According to the reported enforcement pace, authorities have been blocking more than 1,100 websites per day since the restrictions were introduced.
2. The crackdown follows Provisional Measure (MP) 1,394/2026, issued on 25 September. The measure prohibited the operation, offering, intermediation and advertising of fixed-odds betting across Brazil, covering sports betting and online games offered through physical and digital channels, including services provided by companies based outside the country to people located in Brazil.
3. Under the government's timetable, betting platforms had to stop accepting new deposits from the date the measure was published. Customers were given until 5 October to request withdrawals of remaining balances, and betting websites and applications were then required to become unavailable from 6 October.
4. The measure does not cover other lottery formats that remain authorised under Brazilian law. Even so, it marks a material shift for the regulated betting market, which had previously been operating under a national authorisation framework.
5. The reported total of more than 47,000 blocked websites should be read carefully: one operator can use multiple domains, and blocking a website does not necessarily mean the underlying business has stopped operating. In other words, Brazil is reporting enforcement activity against online access, not a clean count of separate companies taken out of the market.

Brazil's authorities had already reported an early result on 27 September, when a joint task force involving the Ministry of Justice and Public Security and the Ministry of Finance said it had blocked 506 websites showing indications of irregular betting activity. The task force included the SPA and government units responsible for public security, consumer protection and digital rights.