Will Brazil become the leading gambling market in Latin America?
In 2018, a federal law was approved in Brazil which legalized online betting and set a four-year window to regulate the local market. This could be a turning point for a country that has long banned gambling activities, with the gross gaming revenue in sports betting in Brazil forecast to surpass five billion Brazilian reals by 2026. Meanwhile, according to Statista’s Digital Market Outlook, the South American giant reported the highest revenue from casino game apps among Latin American countries, generating nearly 22 million U.S. dollars via this segment in 2021. When looking at Brazilians’ preferred online casino games in a February 2022 poll, roughly eight in ten respondents mentioned roulette. Additionally, soccer was by far the most popular sport among Brazilian bettors, favored by 81 percent of the sample.Latin American gamblers’ behavior and preferences
Considering that gambling laws and regulations differ significantly across the region, a January 2022 study focused on understanding the share of bettors in selected Latin American countries. While in Colombia, the first Latin American market to regulate online gambling, nearly 70 percent of respondents claimed to have placed a bet in the previous six months, only 40 percent in Chile had done so. Meanwhile, around a quarter of surveyed Mexicans reported being interested in eSports betting as of April 2021, whereas in Argentina – whose online gambling activities are coordinated on a provincial rather than national basis – 19 percent stated the same. In contrast, when asked about the main factors influencing the choice of a gambling service provider, consumers from different countries agreed on similar preferences, with approximately a third of respondents in Argentina, Chile, and Peru valuing free bets or special offers in 2020.
