Brazil poll finds 70% back banning online betting, but 63% say it would not affect their vote

A new Indexa/Broadcast survey says Brazilian voters broadly support a ban on online bets, yet the issue carries little electoral weight. For payment providers serving high-risk verticals, that combination matters: public appetite for tighter rules is there, but it is not clearly translating into voting behavior.

1. According to the survey, 70% of Brazilian voters support banning online betting. At the same time, 21% prefer that bets remain legal but under stricter rules than today, 6% want the current rules kept in place, and 1% would like fewer restrictions.
2. When asked about a presidential candidate’s position on bets, 63% said it would have no influence on their vote. Only 14% said the influence would be strong, 9% said it would have some influence, and 12% said it would have little influence.
3. The government’s move on the issue is part of the backdrop here: on 25 September it announced Provisional Measure No. 1.394/2026 and made the ban one of the slogans of the final stretch of the campaign.
4. The poll was conducted between 27 and 29 September, shortly after the MP announcement and during President Lula’s campaign against the sector. By political self-identification, 83% of those calling themselves lulistas or petistas backed the ban, versus 67% of bolsonaristas.
5. Support for a ban was higher among women (73%) than men (66%), and among adults aged 25 to 34 (74%). The lowest support came from the 35 to 44 age group (63%). By region, the Northeast led with 75%, while the North had the lowest level of support at 61%. Among respondents earning more than five minimum wages, support was 73%.
6. On debt, 65% of respondents said bets contribute a lot to household indebtedness, 16% said they contribute little, and 17% said they contribute none. The survey measures perception, not causation.
7. Indexa/Broadcast interviewed 2,000 voters by phone. The margin of error is 2.2 percentage points. The publication also notes that the survey did not say whether respondents were shown the effects of a ban, such as players moving to illegal sites. BNLData has said the illegal market still accounts for more than 40% of betting in Brazil after 22 months of regulation.

For operators and PSPs, the useful read is not “Brazil bans bets tomorrow.” It is that regulation is still in play, the rhetoric is hardening, and a meaningful share of voters seems comfortable with tougher rules rather than the status quo. The policy direction is not settled by public opinion alone, but it is clearly not drifting toward laissez-faire either.