77% of Brazilian bettors show signs of using unlicensed iGaming sites

Younger bettors skew furthest from compliance: 54% of 18-to-29-year-olds met the study’s stricter unlicensed-user threshold, compared with 51% of 30-to-49-year-olds and just 43% of those 50 and older. Gender split nearly evenly, 51% women to 49% men, and income barely moved the number at all — 51% among those earning up to two minimum wages, dropping only to 48% above six minimum wages.

That flat line across income brackets is arguably the more interesting result: unlicensed betting in Brazil doesn’t concentrate at either end of the income scale, it shows up at nearly the same rate no matter how much someone earns.

The study surveyed 2,291 people who had placed sports or casino bets in the prior three months, with a 2.1-percentage-point margin of error, fieldwork running through May 2026. Researchers checked respondents against four markers: betting without mandatory facial verification, using a domain other than the official bet.br, and funding accounts through credit cards or cryptocurrency. Seventy-seven percent had done at least one.

The stricter classification, requiring at least two of those four markers, put the real figure at 50% in May — down from 62% in the first half of 2025 and 55% in the second half, a genuine improvement that the single headline number obscures.

Two statements captured where public opinion actually sits. Fifty-five percent fully agreed, and another 22% partly agreed, that illegal platforms are more dangerous because they skip responsible-gambling rules — 77% combined. A second statement, that fighting illegal betting should be a government priority to prevent gambling addiction, drew 56% full agreement and 21% partial, another 77% combined.

The National Association of Games and Lotteries (ANJL) pointed to the underlying numbers as proof the unregulated market remains sizable, noting that federal authorities had blocked more than 54,000 unlicensed sites by July — enforcement that clearly hasn’t closed the gap on its own.