Brazil expands list of esports and games allowed for online betting

Brazil expanded last week the list of esports and online games that are allowed in online betting. The change was made official on Wednesday, April 23, and confirmed by the Minister of Sports, André Fufuca.

In an ordinance, the Ministry of Sports changed the law Nº 14.790/2023, that determines which types of online games are eligible for fixed-odds bets. The federal government now authorizes online betting for esports tournaments that have a “license or authorization from the developers” or owners of the “intellectual property of the games.”

Previously, the government considered only esports recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to be eligible, which excluded shooting games such as Counter Strike, Valorant and Fortnite. Some of the games considered esports by the IOC are baseball, chess, cycling, Just Dance, motorsport, target shooting, tennis, among others.

The IOC had already excluded shooting games from the categories included in the esports Olympic Games. The Committee’s director of virtual sports and games, Vincent Pereira, stated, when referring to these games, that “we cannot have these games promoting Olympic values.”

Fortnite, a survival shooter game, was included in the 2023 Olympic esports Week, but it was played in a shooting sports format rather than in its traditional format.

Online Betting

In December 2018, Brazil approved Law 13,756 and established the fixed-odds betting modality in the country, determining that these are “bets related to real or virtual events in which it is defined, at the time of placing the bet, how much the bettor can win if the prediction is correct”.

Then, on December 31, 2023, the government sanctioned the law that regulates the online sports betting market in Brazil. According to the Law, only companies with headquarters and administration in Brazil may operate sports betting. Minors under the age of 18 may not place bets, as well as: 

• Owners and people who work at betting companies;
• Public agents involved in the regulation and supervision of the betting market;
• People who have access to the computerized betting system;
• People who have or may have influence over the outcome of games, such as sports directors, referees and athletes;
• People diagnosed with gambling addiction, which is a compulsive gambling disorder.

Traffic to Betting Platforms Grows 90% in Brazil After Regulation

After Brazil changed its legislation and regulations in the last year, the traffic in betting platforms increased 90%. According to a survey conducted by the website Aposta Legal, iGaming sites received more than 5 billion visits in the first quarter of 2025. This volume of visits is equivalent to over 650 pages accessed per second.

The regulated betting period began in the country in January 2025. In that month, there were 1.7 billion visits to betting platforms, followed by 1.4 billion visits in February, and 1.8 billion in March. Compared to the previous quarter, the average number of visits to iGaming sites increased by 90%. 

Bets on betting platforms could reach R$ 30 billion per month in Brazil

According to the Banco Central (Central Bank) of Brazil, bets on betting platforms could reach up to R$ 30 billion per month in the country by 2025. This data was presented in the Brazilian Senate by Gabriel Galípolo, president of the Banco Central, during a session of the “CPI das Bets”, a parliamentary inquiry commission that aims to clarify the impact of digital betting on the financial health of Brazilians.

The Central Bank presented the data of a study in 2024 that estimated Brazilians spent R$ 20 billion per month, but at the time the research was done the betting platforms were still not regulated in the country. With new regulations in place, it will be possible to assess this number more accurately in future studies. 

“Now with more concrete data, we confirm the figure of R$ 20 billion, and more recently, it may reach R$ 30 billion per month. So far this year, from January to March, the amount we’ve been tracking is around R$ 20 billion to R$ 30 billion per month”, said Rogério Lucca, executive secretary of the Central Bank.

The good news for the bettors is that, as Lucca emphasized, a significant portion of that amount, estimated at over 90%, is returned to them as payouts for their wagers.

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