Brazil had become one of the most valuable markets for Europe’s biggest betting names, but on Friday, the 25th of September, it turned into their biggest headache. That was when the government published a provisional measure banning online sports betting and iGaming, coming less than two years after the regulated market opened.
The ban took effect as soon as it was published, but it is not permanent yet. According to Allwyn, the measure has legal force for up to 120 days, plus any congressional recess, which takes it to the early part of March 2027. It falls away automatically if either house of Congress rejects it, or if both houses fail to ratify it in that window.
Top Image: Boaventuravinicius, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Who Stands to Lose the Most
Allwyn, the Swiss-based lottery group, owns 36.75% of Kaizen Gaming, the company behind Betano. Brazil is Betano’s largest market, with Allwyn saying that its target of an adjusted EBITDA margin of about 37% for 2026 would no longer apply if the ban stays in place until the end of the year. Betano is preparing legal action to defend the five-year licence it was granted on the first of January 2025.
Better Collective, the betting media group listed in Stockholm and Copenhagen, has been hit harder relative to its size. Its Brazilian business was heading for about €45 million in revenue this year, which is roughly 12% of the group’s total. The company has cut its 2026 organic growth forecast from between seven and 12% to between three and eight%, as well as suspended its 2027 and 2028 targets and paused its share buyback.
Entain expects Brazil to make up about five percent of its online net gaming revenue this year, but now sees some results landing at the lower end of its guidance. Kambi, the Stockholm-listed sportsbook supplier, says that Brazil is only a low single-digit slice of its revenue, so the damage there should be limited.
Flutter, Better Collective and Kambi have all warned that shutting out licensed operators will not kill demand, potentially pushing Brazilian players towards offshore sites that pay no local tax and offer none of the same protections.
Brazilians go to the polls on the 4th of October, with Kambi pointing out that the measure needs congressional approval soon after that vote. Betano is lining up a court challenge in the meantime. For Europe’s operators, one of their most important markets now sits in limbo for months