Brazil’s legal betting industry made a powerful debut in 2025, with the newly mandated bet.br domain drawing 1.7 billion visits in January alone. The surge propelled the domain to become the second-largest online traffic source in the country, trailing only Google, and ranking among the top 17 most visited websites globally.
The performance followed the introduction of new regulations requiring all licensed betting operators to use the bet.br domain to ensure legal compliance. The transition led to betting sites surpassing online giants such as YouTube, which logged 1.2 billion hits, and Instagram, which received 500 million visits during the same period.
The regulated betting sites also stood out for engagement, with Brazilian users spending an average of 13 minutes per session, more than the 10 minutes and 47 seconds averaged by Google, the nation’s top online destination. Additionally, 300 million unique devices, accounting for 60% of the country’s internet-connected devices, accessed a legal betting platform in January.
The leap in visibility was also marked by a sharp increase from 833 million visits in December 2024 to 1.7 billion the following month. The shift to a legal market did not only boost traffic but also supported the government’s ongoing efforts to crack down on illegal gambling sites.
Since October 2024, Brazil’s SPA has blocked 11,555 unauthorized websites through the national telecommunications regulator Anatel and intensified its monitoring of digital influencers promoting unlicensed gambling. These enforcement actions included 75 inspections in January, focusing on 51 content creators, and 22 new investigations in February.
The regulated betting market has also grown steadily, with 68 companies receiving authorization to operate legally and seven additional firms gaining access through court orders. The SPA has reviewed over 45,000 documents and collected around R$ 2.1 billion (US$417 million) in licensing fees.
