Search demand for offshore operators in Brazil jumped from 3.4% to 11.3% in the week following the country's online betting ban, while detected illegal domains rose 181% in four days, from 381 to 1,071.
President Luís Inácio Lula da Silva signed a temporary decree banning sports betting and online casinos on September 25. Licensed sites must cease operations by October 6, with withdrawals allowed until then. Congress still needs to approve the measure for it to take permanent effect.
Blask analytics show offshore brands' share of total iGaming search demand more than tripled: from 3.4% on September 24 to 9.9% by September 29 and 11.3% on September 30, the highest since the regulated market launched in January 2025. The metric uses geotagged data from Google Keyword Planner and Google Trends but does not track actual wagers or deposits.
Bet Legal monitoring, powered by Iron Security, recorded illegal domain growth from 381 on September 25 to a peak of 1,071 on September 29. Live domains climbed from 1,151 to 2,019 by October 2. Most detected domains were registered before the ban: of 322 checked addresses, 320 were purchased in advance and only two after.
The affiliate ecosystem contracted. The top 20 brands appeared on 418 partner sites on September 29, down from 715 a week earlier, a 41.5% drop. Bet365 lost the most placements, from 60 to 31. Stake became the most promoted brand, though its reach also fell from 51 to 38 sites.
The ministries of justice and finance requested blocks on 5,209 domains; regulator Anatel blocked 2,387. Authorities also removed 300 Facebook pages, 90 Instagram accounts and 186 betting apps.
H2 Gambling Capital forecasts R$20–30 billion ($3.83–5.74 billion) will migrate from the legal sector to offshore. Before the ban, the illegal market was valued at R$17 billion, or 30% of the total Brazilian market. Under H2's central scenario, it will grow to R$42 billion, larger than the legal sector was.
