Brazil’s president has turned against a market his own government helped open, putting fresh political risk over one of the world’s fastest-growing regulated gambling sectors.
Lula links online gambling to family debt
Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has called for action against online casino games, saying they are draining household budgets and hurting families across the country.
In a video address tied to International Women’s Day, Lula said gambling addiction is becoming a domestic crisis. He argued that while many problem gamblers are men, women often end up carrying the financial damage at home.
He described money meant for rent, food, school costs, and childcare vanishing through bets placed on mobile phones. For Lula, that easy access is at the heart of the problem.
He also questioned why online casino-style games are allowed into Brazilian homes while land-based casinos remain banned. Lula said the government would need support from Congress and the courts to stop digital casino platforms from continuing to pile pressure on families.
A sharp turn from Lula’s earlier position
The comments mark a striking reversal.
Brazil’s gambling framework was approved by Congress at the end of 2023 and signed into law by Lula in December of that year. The original plan focused on fixed-odds sports betting, giving the government a way to regulate operators that were already active in Brazil without clear legal oversight.
During the legislative process, though, lawmakers widened the bill to include online gaming products, opening the door for digital casino titles such as the hugely popular “Jogo do Tigrinho.”
The Senate tried to strip that expansion out and keep the law limited to sports betting. The Chamber of Deputies later put the broader language back in before the final vote. Lula signed the law without blocking those provisions.
That leaves the president in an awkward spot. He is now criticizing a segment that was allowed to move ahead under legislation he approved.
Brazil’s betting market has exploded
The timing matters because Brazil’s regulated market has grown at speed.
Figures from the Secretariat of Prizes and Betting show 25 million unique bettors used licensed platforms in 2025. Once multiple accounts across different operators are counted, the total rises to more than 87 million active accounts.
Registrations across platforms topped 100 million in the market’s first year under regulation. Gross gaming revenue reached about $7 billion over the same stretch.
Separate research points in the same direction. A PoderData survey found that 36% of Brazilians aged 16 and over have taken part in online betting, which works out to roughly 56 million people.
For the average online casino player, that growth has meant more licensed options and a market that was starting to settle into a formal structure. Lula’s latest remarks now throw that stability into question.
Industry group hits back
The strongest public pushback came from the Association of Women in the Gaming Industry, or AMIG.
In a LinkedIn statement, the group said Lula’s criticism showed a poor grasp of a sector that creates jobs, generates tax revenue, and gives women room to lead. It stressed that women are active across the full chain of the business, from technology and compliance to legal, payments, marketing, sports integrity, and corporate governance.
AMIG says it represents more than 1,400 women working in Brazil’s gaming industry. The group also argued that the regulated market has helped modernize standards around advertising, responsible gambling, and professional oversight.
It added that operators paid roughly R$4.5 billion in dedicated contributions last year, money tied to public policy funding.
Election-year politics now enter the mix
Lula’s comments arrive in an election year, with Brazil’s general election set for October 4, 2026. He is seeking another term, and any serious attempt to ban online casinos would need Congress to rewrite the framework created in 2023.
That means the headline is bigger than one speech. Brazil now has a president hinting at a crackdown on a legal market that is already generating billions and attracting tens of millions of users.
For operators, investors, and players, the message is clear enough: the rules may be legal today, but the politics around them have become a lot less stable.
