Explaining Brazil #312: Brazil has a gambling problem

If you’ve set foot in Brazil at all over the last couple of years, you’ll know all about the frenzy that has swept across the nation like wildfire: online sports gambling.

Outlawed for the longest time in Brazil, betting on football and other sports only became legal in the last few years, and delays in regulating and taxing the industry turned Brazil into something of a Wild West for online gambling, with advertisements for dozens of new bookmakers — called bets in Brazil — popping up every time you switch on your TV, open your phone, go to see a football match, or even walk down the street to catch a bus.

During the 2022 World Cup, fans watching matches in bars would be cheering corner kicks, lamenting both teams scoring, and willing the opposition’s striker to have a shot on goal — scenes which European and particularly British audiences might be used to, but something that had never been a mainstream facet of Brazilian life.

And now, almost as fast as the market grew, the government and societal pushback against online gambling is well and truly underway.

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This episode used music from Uppbeat and Envato. License codes: Fairytales by Daniel Zambo, Aspire by Pryces (B6TUQLVYOWVKY02S), and Private Investigation by AMZA (V9ZG3LD).

In this episode:

• Cedê Silva is The Brazilian Report’s Brasília correspondent. 

Background reading:

• The Brazilian federal government stepped up its crackdown on unregulated sports betting this month, taking hundreds of non-compliant online platforms off the air.

• The National Confederation of Commerce (CNC), a lobbying group for retailers and service providers, filed a petition with Brazil’s Supreme Court, seeking to overturn a law regulating sports betting.

• The rise of online gambling is fueling concerns over its toll on Brazilians’ mental health and personal finances. The impact on household budgets, especially in low-income communities, is already rippling through the broader economy, affecting Brazilian retail.

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The post Explaining Brazil #312: Brazil has a gambling problem appeared first on The Brazilian Report.