Integrity is taken seriously in countries where Sports Betting is regulated, and it will be no different in Brazil. On January 31, President Lula signed a decree that established the creation of the “Prize and Bets Office,” or Secretaria de Premios and Apostas (SPA), to regulate sports betting and online gaming.

One of the purposes of sports betting regulation is to prevent results from being manipulated and, above all, to protect sporting integrity in its broadest sense, elevating the ideals of sport as a reference for the entire community. The rule aims to protect betting operators, clients, and partners—such as sports organizations—from unfair manipulation-related fraud.

In 2023, the International Betting Integrity Association issued 19 alerts for fraudulent activities during gaming events in Latin America; 11 were in Brazil. Football was the sport with the most alerts reported last year; tennis was the second. IBIA combats fraud with evidence-based intelligence, principally from its global monitoring and alert system.

Also in 2023, the Public Prosecution Office of Goiás initiated an operation called “Penalidade Máxima” (Maximum Penalty). The Special Action Group to Combat Organized Crime (Gaeco) and the Prosecutor’s Office for Combating Organized Crime ordered an investigation to look into the manipulation of sporting events carried out by a group that specialized in corrupting professional football athletes.

According to the authorities, there is a criminal group aimed at luring professional athletes to, through financial compensation, ensure the practice of specific events in official football matches to influence or alter the result of a match, known as Match Manipulation. The criminal organization also uses third-party accounts to boost earnings, hide true benefactors, and register intermediaries willing to contact players eager to commit wrongdoing.

As stated a Similarweb study from November 2022, Brazilian sports betting site traffic increased in the days leading up to the World Cup’s start in Qatar. With 113.9 million visits in October 2022, Brazil leads the second-largest sports betting country, the United States (77.9 million), by a wide margin.

Among the benefits, legalizing promotes honesty and transparency in the sport itself, preventing bet manipulation and game results, while also creating new jobs for Brazilians and stimulating the economy. As the legislation establishes regulations and standards, new enterprises in the field will arrive, intending to operate legally.

I see a really bright outlook for the industry in general, including plenty of new possibilities for growth!