ANJL Study: Brazil Online Casino Ban Risks Lifting Illegal Operators to 82% Market Share
ANJL projects a Brazil online casino ban could raise illegal market share from 41% to 82%, with potential annual revenue losses of R$3.6-7.4 billion. Monitors found 6,409 active illegal domains in one week and 13.7 new sites daily. Legal platforms serve over 25 million bettors at risk of migrating to sites without tax or consumer protections.
SCCG Take — The projections show prohibition risks enlarging the unregulated sector regulators aim to shrink. Any ban requires parallel offshore enforcement to limit revenue loss and safeguard exposure.
A study by the National Association of Games and Lotteries (ANJL) suggests a potential ban on online casinos run by legalized betting companies could see illegal operators’ market share in Brazil rise from 41% to 82%.
The findings come as thousands of unauthorized betting websites continue to operate in the country. ANJL’s technical team identified 6,409 illegal betting domains during a one-week period from September 11 to 18 that were fully accessible.
According to Yogonet International, the association estimates annual revenue losses from R$ 3.6 billion ($700 million) to R$ 7.4 billion ($1.44 billion). More than 25 million bettors registered with legal platforms could be redirected to illegal sites.
ANJL president Plínio Lemos Jorge said, “In other words, Brazil loses in every sense. We will have millions of people who will not stop gambling. They will simply start accessing these sites, which do not collect a single tax.”
Plínio Lemos Jorge continued, “The most vulnerable social strata, which are precisely those that the federal government wants to protect, become even more unprotected. After all, these platforms do not offer any mechanism to protect financial and mental health, such as blocking beneficiaries of social programs or self-exclusion tools.”
Expansion of Clandestine Operations
The study documented ongoing growth in unauthorized sites. An average of 13.7 new clandestine websites were registered per day between June and August without Ministry of Finance authorization.
Jorge noted most illegal sites are hosted outside Brazil and collect no local taxes.
Concealment Methods Revealed
Technical details show 55.8% of offshore websites use networks hiding their hosting, while 98.3% do not use ‘.br’ domains.
“Our study showed that of the websites located outside the national scope, 55,8% use a distribution network that hides the original hosting and 98,3% of the domains are not ending in ‘.br’. In other words, everything that is currently prohibited will become widely accessible to ensure the well-being and protection of bettors and their money,” Jorge highlighted.
Brazilian authorities face a direct tension between restricting legal casino offerings and the resulting expansion of unregulated offshore activity that the ANJL data projects.
Reporting: Yogonet International
Generated by SCCG’s automated editorial system from published source reporting. SCCG Management holds editorial responsibility.
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