24 million people sent R$20.8 billion to bets (Image: iStock/ Hirug)
O Banco Central estimates that 24 million people participated in gambling and betting in the month of augustmaking at least one transfer via Pix for these companies. According to the BC survey, it is estimated that the total amount spent is dand R$20.8 billion.
The figures are being released at a time when betting games, also known as bets, are still a novelty in the country. Legalized in Brazil since 2018 without any regulation, online sports betting has created a billion-dollar market through a massive presence on TV and social media.
According to the BC, most bettors have between 20 and 30 years old and the The average monthly value varies according to the age of the bettor. For younger people, the figure is around R$100 per month, while for older people it exceeds R$3,000.
In August, around 5 million people belonging to families benefiting from the Family Allowance spent R$3 billion on bets using Pix (estimating an expense of R$100 per person).
Of this group, 4 million (70%) are heads of households and sent R$2 billion (67%) via Pix to bets.
“To identify people in great financial vulnerability, information on PBF beneficiaries existing in December 2023 was used,” the bank explained. “Around 17% of those registered bet during that period.”
The Central Bank's research is in line with other studies that point to theLow-income families are the most affected by sports betting activity. “It is reasonable to assume that the commercial appeal of getting rich through betting is more attractive to those who are in a situation of financial vulnerability,” the authority said in a statement.
The BC stated that it is paying attention to the issue and that it needs even more data and time to have a better assessment of the economic impacts, financial stability and financial well-being of the populationo.
Bets advance in the country
Sports betting was legalized in Brazil in December 2018, with the expectation that regulation would be implemented within four years, which did not happen. Last year, Congress approved the first part of the regulation sent by the government of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, and a second phase with operating rules defined by the Ministry of Finance will come into effect in October.
Betting companies have proliferated across the country since their release in 2018, but it was after the 2022 Football World Cup that investment in the sector really began to grow in Brazil.
Last year, with the prospect of regulation, large international websites, in partnership with Brazilian companies, arrived in the country with massive spending on advertising, including sponsorship in practically all of the country's elite football clubs, in addition to the main championships.
The regulation states that betting companies, in order to operate in Brazil, must have a presence in the country and a national partner, among other requirements, such as the payment of a concession fee. The government opened a period for interested parties to register, and received 113 registrations by the deadline on August 20.
Companies like MGM Resorts International, Betfair, owned by Flutter Entertainment, the Swedish Betsson AB and the largest U.S. casino and entertainment company, Caesars Sportsbook, are among those that have filed for registration, said Regis Dudena, secretary of the Treasury Department's prize and betting department.
The government's calculation is that, just in the grants for operating authorization, the collection could be up to R$ 3.4 billion, not counting the taxes that bets regularized will start to collect from the public coffers.
*With information from Reuters