Brazil’s Secretariat of Prizes and Betting (SPA) has made the fight against the illegal market its central priority, as the government looks to push more betting activity towards licensed operators under the country’s new regulated regime.
Daniele Correa Cardoso, who took office in January, says that the current channelisation rate is still only around 70-80%, leaving a significant share of wagering outside the legal market. LCA Consultoria estimates that 51% of bets in Brazil were still placed in the underground market in 2025.
Cardoso’s goal is to strengthen consumer protection while improving conditions for licensed operators. She points to Ordinance 1,231 as a key part of this effort, with measures including facial recognition, device registration and tighter responsible gambling controls aimed at protecting bettors and making the legal market more sustainable.
The same framework also restricts advertising, which presents betting as a source of income and is designed to keep children and teenagers out of gambling. On the enforcement side, the government’s joint task force with Anatel and the National Gaming and Lottery Association has already blocked 29,000 illegal websites through a virtual anti-fraud laboratory.
Cardoso acknowledges that new illegal sites will continue to appear but says that sustained pressure on the clandestine market is essential if Brazil is to improve channelisation and give licensed operators a fairer environment in which to compete.
