Brazil’s newly imposed prohibition on online gambling has been followed by a sharp increase in the number of detected illegal betting websites, intensifying concerns about the scale of the country’s unregulated market as authorities move to shut down licensed operators.
Data gathered by Bet Legal, a monitoring platform operated in partnership with cybersecurity firm Iron Security, shows that hundreds of unauthorized betting domains were identified in the days immediately following President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s announcement of Provisional Measure 1,394 on September 25.
The measure immediately prohibited the offering, operation, intermediation, and advertising of fixed-odds betting across the country. Licensed operators have been instructed to stop accepting new deposits and remove their websites and applications from service by October 6, while federal licenses are scheduled to be revoked on October 25.
The emergence of newly detected betting domains has become a central issue in the debate surrounding the ban, with industry groups arguing that restricting regulated operators could strengthen the illegal market rather than eliminate gambling activity.
Monitoring Data Reveals Hundreds of Unauthorized Domains
Bet Legal reported that 295 unauthorized betting domains had been identified by 6 p.m. on September 25, when the government announced the prohibition. By Sunday evening, that figure had climbed to 710 domains, representing a 141% increase within two days.
The platform also recorded 294 additional illegal sites on Saturday alone. Another survey cited by industry outlet BNLData suggested an even larger increase, identifying 6,401 new sites between September 22 and September 28. According to that study, the number of sites detected accelerated after reports of the government’s decision emerged, reaching 1,692 on Saturday and 3,024 on Sunday.
The differing figures have been attributed to the methodologies used by the monitoring systems.
“A count that multiplies to 3,000 on Sunday, while the other publishes 76, is recording a different event,” commented Diego Terrani, founder and chief executive of Iron Security, according to Next.io.
Terrani noted that Bet Legal verifies each website individually before including it in its database. The platform checks whether a site is operating as a betting service and confirms that it does not appear on the official list of licensed operators maintained by the Secretariat of Prizes and Betting (SPA).
The monitoring system excludes duplicate domains, domains offered for sale, and affiliate pages. It also cross-references information from government publications, regulatory notices sent to telecommunications regulator Anatel, domain ownership records, and technical website data.
Most Detected Domains Existed Before the Prohibition
The increase in identified websites does not necessarily indicate that hundreds of new operators entered the market after the ban was announced.
Iron Security tracks several dates associated with each website, including when the domain was purchased, when security certificates were issued, and when the site was first detected. Of the 322 domains for which registration information was available, 320 had been registered before the publication of the provisional measure. Only two were purchased after the ban took effect.
Some domains traced by the company had existed for decades, including registrations dating back to the late 1990s. Terrani cautioned, however, that domain registration dates do not reveal when a website began operating as a betting platform because older domains can later be repurposed.
The data nevertheless highlights the size of the market that regulators must oversee. Between January 1 and September 22, the Secretariat of Prizes and Betting referred 57,691 web addresses to Anatel for blocking. Authorities note that those addresses do not necessarily represent individual companies, as a single operator can maintain multiple domain variations.
Industry Groups Challenge the Measure
The Brazilian government has launched enforcement efforts in response to the growth of unauthorized activity. According to the Ministries of Justice and Finance, authorities have already taken down 506 websites suspected of offering illegal betting services since the measure was enacted.
The task force also identified 43 Telegram groups and channels promoting betting activity to more than 212,000 members. Beginning October 6, internet service providers and telecommunications operators will be required to block betting websites following government directives transmitted through Anatel, although details of the blocking system are still being developed.
Industry organizations continue to oppose the ban. The National Association of Games and Lotteries (ANJL) has argued that eliminating regulated operators could push consumers toward platforms operating outside Brazilian oversight.
“Without authorisation, without the same regulatory obligations and operating outside the scope of oversight, the clandestine market continues to find space,” the ANJL stated.
ANJL President Plínio Lemos Jorge also warned of the potential impact of the prohibition on the illegal sector.
“The clandestine websites have expanded their offerings and continue to operate outside the law and oversight,” he said. “Now, they will take advantage of the prohibition of legal betting to attract bettors to the illegal market.”
According to ANJL and the Brazilian Institute for Responsible Gaming (IBJR), approximately 31 million people currently use licensed betting platforms, which offer age verification, taxpayer identification checks, self-exclusion tools, and other consumer protection measures.
The ANJL and IBJR have jointly petitioned Brazil’s Supreme Federal Court, asking Justice Luiz Fux to suspend the provisional measure while its constitutionality is reviewed. The organizations argue that the government has not demonstrated the urgency required to justify such a prohibition through a provisional measure and have requested either a suspension of the ban or a longer transition period for operators.
A separate constitutional challenge has also been filed by the National Association for Legal Certainty in Gaming and Betting (Anseja). As legal proceedings move forward and regulators continue enforcement efforts, the rapid increase in detected illegal betting domains has become a key factor in the broader debate over the future of gambling regulation in Brazil.