Brazil’s illegal betting market keeps growing as regulators block sites and authorized operators go offline

Twenty days after MP 1.394/2026, Brazil’s government is pointing to site takedowns as proof of progress. The catch is that the unofficial market is replacing blocked domains almost immediately, while cloned brands, verified influencers, and app-store listings keep the traffic moving.

1. In the first week after the MP, the Ministry of Justice said more than 10,000 illegal websites had been sent to Anatel for blocking. But the official monitoring data showed 6,401 new illegal sites identified between 22 and 28 September, plus 811 links to those platforms found in monitored channels. In other words: the blockade list and the replacement list were growing at roughly the same time.
2. The buildup was already there before the measure. From 1 January to 22 September 2026, SPA forwarded 57,691 addresses to Anatel. Before the MP, the agency had already taken down 78,000 illegal sites at the government’s request. After the MP, the pace increased on both sides: Bet Legal identified 415 new unauthorized sites in the 48 hours after publication, and by 29 September Anatel had ordered blocking for 2,387 of the 5,209 domains requested by the government, less than half.
3. The nastier part started when authorized operators went offline on 6 October. One affected company found at least 11 illegal addresses using its own visual identity or presenting themselves in a similar way. The company says taking them down is a never-ending chase, because new ones appear minutes later. For users, the substitute product is a fake site with no payment guarantee, no self-exclusion, and nobody to complain to.
4. Distribution also shifted channels. Illegal platforms are being promoted by influencers with verified Meta profiles and are keeping apps live in the official Apple and Google stores. So the advertising that the MP banned for authorized companies continues to circulate, only now it benefits operators that never paid licensing fees or taxes.
5. The market was already large before the ban. A survey by Instituto Locomotiva, commissioned by IBJR, estimated that irregular operations accounted for 38% to 44% of online bets in the first half of the year. Another study commissioned by the same association, by LCA Consultores, put the illegal market at between R$ 26 billion and R$ 30 billion in 2026. Both studies were ordered by the sector, and the projection predates the exit of authorized companies. With 40 million active bettors and 85 licensed companies out of the game, the vacuum got much bigger. According to the sector, the regulated market contributed almost R$ 10 billion in taxes, which the clandestine platforms do not collect.

The enforcement angle now extends beyond takedowns. Under Portaria MJSP nº 1.325/2026, the Federal Police has just gained a division focused on the issue, which tells you something about how persistent the problem has become: this is no longer just a domain-blocking exercise, it is an industrial-scale substitution problem.