Brazil Imposes Online Betting Ban Prompting Sharp Rebuttals from Flutter, Entain and Betano Owners

President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva declared an outright ban on online betting in Brazil. The provisional measure, announced Friday, upends a market that has delivered substantial tax revenue and growth since regulation two years ago.

The sector posted a competitive earnings baseline of $9.5 billion according to the Blask Index, with more than R$8.7 billion (£1.2 billion) in betting taxes declared in H1 2026. Operators including Flutter Entertainment, Betano, Superbet and bet365, together with suppliers such as Playtech, Kambi and Evolution, had identified Brazil as a material part of their businesses.

Immediate Financial and Operational Fallout

Flutter Entertainment acquired NSX, operator of Betnacional, in May 2025. The resulting Flutter Brazil division delivered US$74 million revenue in H1 2026 after 722% year-on-year growth. A company spokesperson received the news with “surprise and great concern,” stating the ban “could represent the prohibition or dismantling of an activity authorised and regulated by the Brazilian State itself.” The spokesperson added that the demand for betting will not disappear and warned that prohibition tends to push consumers toward illegal platforms lacking user identification, deposit limits and anti-money laundering controls.

Entain forecast that Brazil would represent around 5% of its online net gaming revenue for FY26. The LSE-listed group still expects revenue between £910 million and £960 million and online underlying EBITDA margin of 21-22%, but both will land at the lower end of those ranges. Entain expressed disappointment at the sudden development without consultation of industry stakeholders.

Allwyn, which holds a 36.75% minority stake in Kaizen Gaming’s Betano brand, confirmed Betano is evaluating legal options including a lawsuit to protect its five-year license issued by the Secretariat of Bets and Prizes. The license took effect on 1 January 2025. Allwyn stated that its previous FY26 guidance of 37% Adjusted EBITDA would no longer apply should the ban remain in place by year-end.

Better Collective CEO Jesper Søgaard suspended FY 2027/28 guidance after the announcement. The company had been heading toward €45 million in Brazilian domestic revenue for 2026, or approximately 12% of group total. The ban is now expected to wipe out around €15 million of projected revenue from late Q3 through Q4. Søgaard added that a regulated market protects consumers and that prohibition risks pushing players to illicit offshore operators.

Kambi CEO Werner Becher said Brazil represents a low single-digit percentage of the supplier’s revenue and that the financial impact will therefore be limited. Becher stated that “prohibition risks driving consumers towards black market alternatives where those protections do not exist.”

Credibility and Next Steps

São Paulo lawyer Neil Montgomery called the measure an “illegal presidential act” that puts “Brazil’s credibility as a place to do business and upholding the rule of law at stake.” As reported by SBC News, the provisional measure cancels all licenses thirty days from publication with no refund for the unused portion of the five-year terms. Congress must still approve, amend or reject it following the October elections.

The coming weeks will test whether lobbying can preserve the regulated framework the state itself created less than two years ago. Operators and investors now weigh legal routes, cost mitigations and portfolio adjustments against the prospect of sustained uncertainty in one of the sector’s fastest-growing jurisdictions.

Reporting: SBC News

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