Brazil: 47,000 illegal betting sites blocked since ban

Last updated: 9 Nov 2026, 08:05 CET

Brazil's Secretariat of Prizes and Betting (SPA), part of the Finance Ministry, told Metrópoles on 8 November that more than 47,000 illegal betting sites have been blocked since provisional measure (MP) 1.394 took effect. The SPA note gave no end date for the count. Messaging channels are still advertising new addresses to people in Brazil.

O Globo's Lauro Jardim column, also on 8 November and citing the Finance Ministry, puts the count at about 47,000 sites taken down between 25 September and 4 November, an average of 1,175 a day. UOL, citing the SPA, reports more than 47,000 blocks up to Friday 6 November, at more than 1,100 a day.

According to O Globo and the Finance Ministry, from October 2024 until the ban the government had taken down about 79,000 sites, at roughly 110 a day. That figure is separate from the 66,482 illegal betting domains blocked between January 2025 and 2 September 2026, which came from a different information request. The two are not one series.

The SPA also told Metrópoles that it identifies payment methods used by clandestine sites and orders the linked financial accounts blocked. It gave no count of those account blocks. A block is an administrative order, not a criminal conviction.

Ads keep circulating

Metrópoles' own investigation of six messaging channels with a combined more than 43,000 subscriptions found 87 distinct domains in their ads. None used the .bet.br ending that marked federally authorised platforms before the ban. The ads offered Fortune Tiger–style ("tigrinho") games, no-fee withdrawals, referral bonuses and lists of alternative addresses when one link failed. Some people told the reporters they had been added to betting channels without asking, and two said they had lost money on advertised sites.

The same article cites earlier Justice Ministry figures: 43 betting channels or groups identified by 27 September, and removal requests for 1,027 by 9 October, covering 18.4 million subscriptions. Under the MP, advertising illegal betting counts as abusive advertising and can draw fines; platforms that fail to comply can face fines of up to 10% of group revenue in Brazil, Metrópoles reports.

Court context

Licensed operators were required to take their sites offline after the MP. A TRF3 judge later provisionally restored the authorisation of CDA Gaming, the company behind Casa de Apostas and Betsul; see our report on that restoration. On 6 November the TRF3's president, Judge Luís Antônio Johonsom Di Salvo, suspended the effects of that restoration until the underlying case reaches a final, unappealable judgment (*trânsito em julgado*) or the presidency rules otherwise, according to the court decision in Suspensão de Liminar e de Sentença nº 5032238-54.2026.4.03.0000 and the AGU announcement.

The Supreme Federal Court (STF) has held a hearing on the MP without deciding. Online betting and casino offers to people in Brazil remain prohibited under the MP.

Updates

• 9 Nov 2026: first published.