Brazil's restrictions on online betting coincided with a sharp rise in suspicious gambling links and sites. Monitoring data released by the National Association of Games and Lotteries (ANJL) points to activity moving to unauthorized platforms.
Monitoring data
By 8 October, the LegitBet system had flagged 41,716 suspicious sites, with 30,593 confirmed on tracked markers. On 8 October alone it detected 79 new sites and confirmed 55. From 2 to 7 October, daily detections ranged from 70 to 233 new domains.
Monitoring since 5 October covers only sites aimed at Brazilian users. Domains from regulator Anatel's blocklist and sites of authorized companies are excluded. The true scale may be higher.
Link circulation grew faster. From 8 to 23 September, tracked channels carried an average of 77 links per day. After the provisional measure of 25 September banning bets, the average for 1-7 October rose to 549 links per day, about seven times higher. It peaked at 948 links on 7 October, the day after authorized operators switched off their sites and apps. It eased to 733 on 8 October.
On 8 October, search engines accounted for 32% of finds, existing databases for 30%, networks of previously tracked sites for 18%, Telegram channels for 13% and social networks for 8%. The social share covers Kwai, Instagram, Reddit and Snapchat. Sites found via Telegram confirmed at 90%. That channel converts.
Of the 55 confirmed domains, 82% contain digits in the name. One group of 13 addresses uses a single name with different numeric combinations. By suffix, .com leads with 43.6%, followed by .vip at 12.7% and .bet at 7.3%, with .org, .cc, .co, .net and .top also present. Ads push 'Fortune games' and PIX payment. Registration is mobile-only, with daily bonuses and referral rewards. One site promised up to 1 million Brazilian reais.
Economic impact
Assessments of the ban's economic effect differ. Planning Ministry Executive Secretary Guilherme Mello told O Globo on 14 October that halting bets does not necessarily cut economic activity, as consumers may redirect spending. 'It is a change of hands of money', he said. Federal Revenue Service Secretary Robinson Barreirinhas made similar remarks on 8 October. The monitoring data suggests another outcome. Before the ban, unauthorized operators already accounted for more than 40% of betting activity after 22 months of regulation.
