Kambi Says Brazil’s Online Gambling Ban Hits Investor Confidence and Sports Integrity

Kambi director Mateo Lenoble says Brazil’s sudden reversal on online gambling has already damaged investor confidence and may push betting activity offshore. For PSPs and acquirers, the practical issue is simple: when a regulated market turns unstable, the volume does not disappear, it just becomes harder to underwrite and harder to control.

1. Lenoble told iGaming Business that Brazil’s ban on online betting creates significant concern because even if operations resume later, the legal uncertainty already introduced by the prohibition will remain. In other words, a market can reopen on paper and still stay awkward to bank in practice.
2. He argued that removing legal betting does not stop betting. Instead, players move to offshore operators, which expands the black market and weakens the government’s ability to control sports-related fraud, including match-fixing. That is the part payment teams usually care about first: unlicensed flow is harder to monitor, harder to reject, and easier to abuse.
3. Lenoble also said playing with unlicensed operators increases the risks of gambling harm for players. For regulated PSPs, that translates into a familiar tension: the safer route for the market is not always the route that the volume follows when legal access is cut off.
4. Asked about Kambi specifically, Lenoble confirmed the ban affects the company because Kambi only operates in regulated markets, so its Brazil-facing projects have been disrupted. He added that if Brazil changes its mind, it would remain an attractive market and Kambi would probably continue serving it.
5. Lenoble said Kambi is still supporting local partners until a final decision is made, but companies operating only in Brazil have been disproportionately affected. He also noted that Kambi is a member of the International Betting Integrity Association, or IBIA, and stressed that legal markets help keep betting in the open and provide stronger regulation against fraud.