A proposed ban on licensed online casinos in Brazil could dramatically increase the market share of illegal gambling sites, potentially rising from the current 41% to 82%, as reported by the National Association of Games and Lotteries (ANJL).
This alarming forecast stems from the extensive availability of internet domains that offer illegal gambling services without authorization from the Ministry of Finance. A technical study conducted by ANJL revealed that between June and August of this year, an average of 13.7 new unauthorized websites were registered each day.
During just one week of monitoring, from September 11 to 18, ANJL identified 6,409 illegal betting domains accessible to Brazilian users.
Plínio Lemos Jorge, president of ANJL, highlighted how enacting a ban on legal betting would likely push millions of players toward illegal websites. The majority of these sites are hosted overseas, and they do not contribute to tax revenues. "Our study showed that of the websites located outside the national scope, 55.8% use a distribution network that hides the original hosting," Lemos Jorge stated. "And 98.3% of the domains do not end in '.br'. Everything that is currently prohibited to ensure the protection of bettors and their money will become widely accessible."
If the proposed ban is implemented, the negative impact would extend beyond illegal market growth. Brazil could lose between BRL3.6 billion ($700.9 million) and BRL7.4 billion in annual revenue, detrimental to the economy.
Lemos Jorge emphasized the losses on multiple fronts, asserting, "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 any taxes whatsoever. The most vulnerable social strata, which are precisely those the government aims to protect, become even more unprotected. These platforms do not offer any mechanisms to safeguard financial or mental health, such as blocking beneficiaries of social programs or self-exclusion tools."
