Brazil SPA issues list of 2,040 blocked domains following illegal betting crackdown
The sites were blocked as of midnight 10 October. The list was announced 10 days prior, but officials wanted to give players time to retrieve money from their accounts. The Brazil SPA carried out extensive monitoring of the black market to compile the list, it said.
Brazil’s licensed betting market is primed to go live on 1 January. The regulator and government have taken a hardline approach to ensuring only licensed and legal operators remain live in the betting market, even prior to January’s launch.
The private sector has heavily criticised online gambling, claiming it is impacting the economy and causing members of society to spend beyond their means. In response, and in an effort to show how well protected players will be once the market is legal, a crack down on illegal gambling in Brazil was initiated.
The blocking of these sites follows the publication of a seperate list of companies that have been approved to operate in Brazil. This approved list is based on companies that did submit licence applications prior to the 30 September deadline. These companies were active in the market before the measure was announced in September.
Big European names included in blocked list
On the banned list were a few notable domains belonging to operators licensed in other jurisdictions and generally well known. These include:
- Betclic.com
- betfred.com
- bethard.com
- Betsafe.com
- boylesports.com
- marathonbet.com
- Flutter’s paddypower.com – The group has said it will only operate its Betfair brand and the brands belonging to NSX Group like betnacional (acquired in September) in the licenced market.
- Entain’s bwin.com, partypoker.com and Ladbrokes.com brands – the operator applied for a licence under its sportingbet brand on 25 July.
- sportium.es
- Sunbingo.co.uk
- Tabcorp.com.au
- Yogonet.com
It’s possible some of the above domains are awaiting licence approval but haven’t met requirements and are therefore banned. It could also be that operators are not interested in operating in the licenced market.
A cursory look at the betting licence applicants list doesn’t reveal whether the brands noted above are awaiting a licence. In some instances, applications are filed via a local holding company. This can make it difficult to connect an application with an operator. Applicants must be affiliated with a have local company to be granted a licence in Brazil. Sportingbet’s submission, for example, is listed under VENTMEAR BRASIL S.A., a company that is not immediately associated with Entain.
However, one apparent mistake in the list is the inclusion of industry news website yogonet.com. That company does not currently offer any online gambling products.
Brazil SPA will monitor list
The government’s treasury department will constantly monitor the listed sites to ensure they do not return to Brazil, Secretary of Prizes and Bets Regis Dudena said in a statement.
“This is a very important first step that will be further developed and will involve ongoing action by both the SPA and other government agencies to protect gamblers and the economy.”
It is not known whether this is the final list. The SPA could update it over the next few days as it did with its list of approved operators.
Four additional operators were added to the approved list 3 October after an administrative error left them off the first time — Stake, Hiper Bet and LBBR were added 9 October. The list stands at 89 operators and 213 brands which can remain active ahead of the licensed launch in January.
Companies authorised to operate until December will also be monitored, secretary Dudena warned. If said operators violate any of Brazil’s laws, such as the Consumer Protection Code and the Child and Adolescent Statute, they risk having their application rejected.
“Companies that are operating are jointly responsible for their actions. Even those on the current positive list are also being analysed and all their behavior will be taken into consideration until the final decision on the final authorisation,” Dudena said.
Banned operators still have time to apply for a licence
Banned operators are still able to apply for a licence. But their applications could take up to 180 days to be processed.
The Treasury will have 150 days to respond to the submission and companies then have another 30 days to pay the concession fee of R$30 million.
Only those that applied before the 31 August are guaranteed to be licenced by the market’s target launch date of 1 January 2025.