Brazil’s Online Betting Surge and the Rise of a Gambling Epidemic

Online sports betting has become one of the most significant economic and social phenomena in Brazil in recent years. Driven by the popularization of digital platforms and intense promotion on social media, the sector generates billions of reais and attracts millions of users.

Brazil formally regulated online sports betting in recent years, creating one of the world’s fastest-growing gambling markets. However, as the industry expands, specialists warn of rising levels of debt and gambling-related addiction.

During 2025, roughly 40 million Brazilians — in a country of more than 200 million inhabitants — placed at least one online bet.

A survey conducted by Brazil’s National Confederation of Shopkeepers (CNDL), a major Brazilian retail trade association, and SPC Brasil, one of the country’s leading consumer credit monitoring institutions, in collaboration with market research firm Offerwise, shows that easy access to online gambling has secured a dangerous place in citizens’ daily lives while also becoming strategically important to the national economy.

Brazil’s Secretariat of Prizes and Betting (SPA), an agency linked to the Ministry of Finance, reported that regulated betting companies generated more than R$17 billion in profits during the first half of 2025 alone.

During the same period, the country had approximately 178 licensed online betting operators (“bets,” as betting platforms are popularly known in Brazil). Despite the high number of regulated brands, at least 40% of the online betting market remained illegal during the second half of the year, further increasing profits generated from the population.

Whether regulated or not, dependence on online gambling carries both financial and emotional consequences.

Gambling Disorder: From Cycle to Diagnosis

According to a study conducted by the Brazilian polling and research institute Locomotiva, 86% of people who gambled online had some form of debt in 2024, while 64% had negative credit records with Serasa, Brazil’s largest credit bureau.

In this context, about 31% of indebted or delinquent Brazilians reported placing bets. These figures should not be viewed merely as consequences, but rather as stages in a cyclical process:

• The individual finds themselves in a situation of financial vulnerability;
• They turn to online betting as a seemingly easy way to make money;
• Due to the low odds of winning, their debt increases.

Depending on the case, the order of these stages may vary, and the cycle can restart and even worsen. When this behavior ceases to be occasional and becomes persistent, affecting an individual’s financial, professional, family, and emotional life, it can evolve into a psychiatric disorder.

Known as Gambling Disorder, the condition is characterized by persistent gambling behavior and is recognized by the world’s leading psychiatric diagnostic manuals: the fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5), published by the American Psychiatric Association, and the 11th revision of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-11), developed by the World Health Organization.

Although the diagnosis encompasses all forms of gambling—including casinos, lotteries, and Brazil’s traditional illegal numbers game known as jogo do bicho—the term Gambling Disorder is often used when discussing the patterns and consequences associated with online betting platforms.

Beyond the habit itself, a specialist may take an average of 12 months to reach a diagnosis.

“A large group of people become involved with gambling, but overall, of every 100 individuals, 5% or fewer will develop gambling disorder,” psychiatrist Thiago Roza told The Sentinel by Yuvoice.

According to Roza, many of the disorder’s common characteristics stem from the sensations gambling provides, including the euphoria of uncertainty—not knowing whether one will win or lose—and the superstitions that gamblers often develop.

“They think, ‘I can identify patterns in the results and therefore know when I’m going to win or lose.’ As a result, people tend to enter a loop.”

From this cycle come a series of consequences: accumulating debt that can lead to job loss, relationship conflicts, school-related problems such as poor performance or even dropping out, and illegal activities that further reinforce the addiction. These consequences were identified by Brazilian news outlet Nexo and reaffirmed by Roza.

Even before these problems emerge, the desire to “fill emotional voids” appears to explain why many people continue gambling.

“People become magnetized by the sensation of gambling. Their self-control is no longer fully preserved,” the psychiatrist explained.

The Gateway to Online Betting Addiction

The popularity of betting platforms has been fueled by advertisements in influencers’ Instagram Stories. Through targeted advertising tools, the platform ensures that the “unmissable opportunity to place a bet” reaches the audience brands want to attract—particularly young people.

According to Locomotiva’s research, most bets placed on illegal platforms in 2025 (69%) came from individuals between the ages of 18 and 29. This figure does not account for underage users who falsely claim to be adults in order to access betting websites.

“We know they have easy access, especially through smartphones. Theoretically, pornography is also prohibited for minors under 18. Yet smartphones are the primary means of consumption, and children are still being exposed to it,” Roza compared before adding: “Teenagers do not have the same level of self-criticism that adults do.”

Today, gambling is easier than ever. Accessible through smartphones at any time of day and promoted by increasingly sophisticated advertising campaigns, betting platforms have become part of the daily routine of millions of Brazilians.

At the same time that the sector generates billions of reais and attracts new users, it also exposes the challenges of a country still trying to understand the boundaries between entertainment, financial vulnerability, and addiction. The speed at which betting has grown in Brazil raises an urgent question: how can society contain the social impacts of a market that continues to expand?

The rapid growth of online betting has created new business opportunities and increased tax revenues, but it has also intensified debates about debt, mental health, and the protection of vulnerable populations. In a scenario where placing a bet is only a few clicks away, the challenge is to balance consumer freedom, regulation, and prevention in order to prevent a form of entertainment from becoming a public health problem.