Key highlights:

  • Brazil’s online gaming market saw a huge drop in activity, falling 78.2 percent in just one week by October 4.
  • The week before, it had already fallen 20.1 percent.
  • Offshore operators made up 23.4 percent of the racked market demand by October 4.
  • Operators were busy meeting an October 5 deadline for users to withdraw funds, since online gaming was set to stop on October 6.

Brazil’s online gaming market hit a rough spot in early October after new government rules changed how betting companies and gaming platforms can operate. The effect was clear in the numbers: the Blask Index showed a 78.2 percent drop in market demand in the week ending October 4.

This sharp fall followed President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s September 25 rule banning fixed-odds sports betting and online games across Brazil. This gave customers and companies only a short period to handle withdrawals and close accounts before websites and apps had to shut down on October 6.

Government Measure Brings Major Change to Brazil’s Online Gaming Market

Blask’s latest data shows how quickly things changed after the government’s move. Demand had already fallen in the week of September 21 to September 27, down 20.1 percent. Then, the decline got even steeper. In the week ending October 4, demand fell 78.2 percent from the previous week. This happened as the deadline for customers to withdraw their money approached and betting operators began winding down operations.

Users had until Monday, October 5, to withdraw funds. All online gaming sites and apps were to close from Tuesday, October 6. This created a tight window for everyone, and the Blask data captured a market going through a sudden, not gradual, decline.

Offshore Brands Gain a Larger Share of Remaining Demand

Overall demand shrank, but offshore brands’ share of the market grew. Blask’s data showed offshore operators accounted for 3.7 percent of tracked activity from September 14 to 20. That went up to 5.9 percent the next week. Then, by the week of September 28, their share was 18.1 percent, and by October 4, it hit 23.4 percent.

This rise stands out because it happened as the whole market shrank. More offshore activity didn’t mean growth; it just meant offshore brands made up a larger share of what was left. Blask also explained what onshore and offshore mean. The terms are about whether a brand is licensed in Brazil, not whether it is legal or illegal in some other sense. The offshore number refers to offshore brands’ share among all tracked brands in Brazil. This ban could also increase illegal betting activity that is currently untracked in the country. 

DigiPlus Responds to the Regulatory Changes

The tougher rules also forced companies to act. DigiPlus Interactive Corp, a gaming company from the Philippines, relaunched its BingoPlus platform in Brazil in July this year, so it was one of the companies affected. On September 28, DigiPlus announced it was following the new government directive, including processing customer withdrawals on time.

Despite everything going on in Brazil, DigiPlus says these changes would not have a major effect on its finances or overall operations. They are monitoring the ongoing legal and legislative process and described the situation as fluid. This was happening as Brazil’s 2026 presidential election was underway. In the first round, which was held on Sunday, Flavio Bolsonaro got 47.03 percent of the vote, while Lula da Silva got 45.176 percent. Since neither reached the level needed to win outright, they will face off again in a second round on October 25.