A proposed prohibition on licensed online casinos in Brazil could escalate the share of illegal gambling sites from 41% to a staggering 82%, according to the National Association of Games and Lotteries (ANJL).
This forecast arises from an overwhelming presence of unregulated online domains facilitating illegal gambling, which operate without authorization from the Ministry of Finance. ANJL's technical analysis reveals that between June and August of this year, Brazil has seen an alarming average of 13.7 new unauthorized gambling websites being registered daily.
During a week-long monitoring period from September 11 to 18, the ANJL identified 6,409 illegal betting domains accessible to users.
Plínio Lemos Jorge, president of ANJL, emphasized that the data illustrate how a ban on online betting could potentially divert millions of gamblers to these illegal platforms. Most of these sites are based abroad and do not comply with tax regulations in Brazil.
Lemos Jorge noted, "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 do not end in '.br'. Everything that is currently prohibited to ensure the protection of bettors and their funds will become widely available."
The potential ban could severely impact the 25 million bettors currently registered on legal platforms, exposing them to unregulated sites. Additionally, Brazil stands to forfeit between BRL3.6 billion ($700.9 million) and BRL7.4 billion in annual revenue due to this prohibition.
Lemos Jorge asserted, "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 illegal sites, which do not collect any taxes at all. The most vulnerable social groups, whom the government seeks to protect, become even less protected. After all, these platforms do not provide any means to safeguard financial or mental well-being, like blocking beneficiaries of social programs or self-exclusion tools."
