After considering online gaming legalization and allowing land-based casinos in Brazil over the last year, some of those gaming legalization efforts panned out recently with the launch of legalized sports betting and online gaming on Jan. 1.
Betting is now available for residents 18 years of age and older, but there are some strings attached to begin using an online account. Bettors will be required to submit their Individual Taxpayer Registration (CPF) information, and must use facial recognition when wagering. The use of credit cards to fund wagering accounts and sign-up bonuses also won’t be allowed.
Huge Legalized Market
Soccer is king in the land of samba and sun, and it seems likely that it will instantly be the most popular sport for the country’s prognosticators. The Campeonato Brasileiro Série A is the country’s top league and should be a beneficiary of the new sports wagering landscape.
Other soccer leagues around the world may also see plenty of wagering, but sports like basketball, volleyball, mixed martial arts, motorsports, tennis, swimming, boxing, and others are also popular. Under the new law, bettors can wager on any sport recognized by the International Olympic Committee.
So far, 68 online gaming and 67 sports betting licenses have been given the go-ahead by the country’s Minister of Finance. Some of those include recognizable global brands including:
- Entain’s Betboo and SportingBet brands
- MGM Resorts’ LeoVegas
- Flutter Entertainment’s Betfair
- bet365
- Stake.com
Flutter also owns a majority of the NSX Group, the fourth largest operator in the country. As a country with more than 216 million people, Brazil is expected to be a major player in the industry.
Preventing problem gambling is a major part of the regulation efforts and President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said in October that the government could reverse legalization if addiction became too much of a problem.
“If regulation doesn’t work,” he said, “I won’t hesitate in putting an end to (betting) definitively.”
The country has become a major hotspot in recent years for online poker as well as seeing top-notch live players winning major titles. CoinPoker recently signed top Brazilian poker player Olivio “Bigfat” Gontijo as an ambassador and Yuri Dzivielevski won his fifth World Series of Poker bracelet last summer in Las Vegas.
