Brazil betting companies double revenue in 2026, tax contribution on par with tobacco and agriculture sectors
Data from the Federal Revenue Service indicate that revenue from licensed betting operators in Brazil doubled in the first four months of 2026 compared with 2025.
Tax revenue from betting jumped from BRL2.2 billion ($440 million) in the first four months of last year to BRL4.5 billion from January to April 2026.
The amount collected this year is already close to the contributions made by the tobacco industry and the agricultural sector. Each of these sectors pays approximately BRL1 billion per month in taxes.
As bookmakers’ tax contributions account for 37% of their revenue, they generated BRL12.2 billion in revenue during the first four months of this year. The data was reported in an article in Folha de São Paulo on Sunday.
In 2025, the sector’s revenue totalled BRL36.9 billion. The performance of betting companies is subject to seasonal fluctuations, particularly around major football competitions, and revenue tends to increase in the middle and towards the end of the year.
With the World Cup now upon us, strong growth is expected this year.
“It’s an industry that is gaining a foothold,” says Plínio Lemos Jorge, president of the National Association of Games and Lotteries trade body (ANJL).
Additional source of revenue
According to Lauro Gonzalez of the Getulio Vargas Foundation, the increase in revenue is linked to the greater penetration of sportsbooks into Brazilian society through advertising.
H2 Gambling Capital projects that the World Cup will provide a further boost to revenue. The amount wagered during the tournament could range from BRL20 billion to BRL25 billion.
Ed Birkin, managing director of H2, says that the exact amount of extra revenue generated by the event is still uncertain because it will depend directly on the results of the matches on the field.
Gamblers and betting companies
Since 2025, when the regulated market began, the Ministry of Finance has issued 85 licences to companies operating 187 authorised websites.
According to data from the Ministry of Finance, 25 million individual taxpayers placed bets in 2025. Government figures show that each player spent an average of BRL123 per month on online betting during the year, excluding winnings.
At the end of last year, 10 brands accounted for 68.8% of the market, according to H2 estimates. The market leader is the Greek company Betano, with around 23% of betting revenue generated in Brazil in 2025. The British companies Bet365 and SportingBet, Pernambuco-based Esportes da Sorte and the Romanian company Superbet are vying for the top spot in the rankings. They are followed by Blaze, Betnacional, EstrelaBet, CassinoPix and 7K in the top 10.
Marco Túlio Oliveira, CEO of Ana Gaming, which operates two of the top ten betting brands (7K and CassinoPix), believes that the growth rate of betting sites is likely to slow compared with recent years. “It was a market that didn’t exist, and now companies have established themselves,” he told Folha.
Oliveira expects growth of between 10% and 15% this year. “After that, the legal market will grow in line with the economy,” he said.
According to Birkin, the online betting market is saturated with very small companies. He believes some will go bankrupt or be acquired by larger operators. “It’s not a popular thing to say, but the fact is that there are licensed operators that simply underperform and don’t have a strong enough structure,” he said.
Criticism is just jealousy
Some surveys indicate an increase in the number of gamblers suffering from compulsive gambling. At the same time, the CNC (Brazil’s National Trade Confederation) claims that the population’s debt is the fault of betting companies.
Andre Gelfi, president of the Brazilian Institute for Responsible Gambling (IBJR, in the Portuguese acronym), says this is a matter of “envy”. In his view, “retailers are struggling because there isn’t enough to go around for Brazilian families. They see the betting companies advertising and think we’re making money – the money they’ve lost,” he says.
Gelfi argues that debt also weighs on betting companies, as it reduces consumers’ ability to bet. “The retail market’s limited resources are also limited for us.”
Underground market
Despite the industry’s massive revenue figures, competition from illegal betting sites and prediction markets is the main topic of discussion between the sector and the government.
According to betting operators, these sites offer bets without paying the BRL30 million licence fee and taxes. Nor do they comply with advertising regulations. The absence of operating costs allows illegal operators to offer more attractive prizes.
Illegal gambling also lacks a self-exclusion mechanism, which allows players to voluntarily block themselves from betting platforms. The system was created by the Secretariat of Prizes and Betting (SPA).
A study by the consulting firm LCA, commissioned by the IBJR, estimates that illegal betting accounted for approximately 41% to 51% of the total market. Under this scenario, the value of an illicit operation would range from BRL26 billion to BRL39 billion.
The illegal market generated BRL16.3 billion in 2025.
Betting companies also pressured the government to include prediction markets such as Kalshi and Polymarket on its list of illegal businesses. The Ministry of Finance complied and blocked the websites in late April.
According to the IBJR, however, these websites continue to operate in Brazil despite the restrictions. The institute submitted a notification to the government on this matter on 29 April.
According to H2’s calculations, based on information from the Central Bank regarding overseas remittances, cryptocurrency transactions and traffic on illicit websites, the black market generated BRL16.3 billion in 2025.
Birkin acknowledges, however, that there are no official figures on the matter.