FIRST.bet’s Brazilian operator clients generate more than €350 million a year in sports betting GGR, according to the supplier’s own estimate, putting a figure on how much B2B business Brazil’s betting ban puts at risk.
Founder and CEO Tom Light gave the estimate in an exclusive statement to The iGaming Europe, describing the impact of the ban as “significant”.
President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva signed Provisional Measure (MP) 1.394 on 25 September, prohibiting sports betting and online casino. Licensed sites must go offline from 6 October.
FIRST.bet’s statement
Tom Light, CEO and Founder of FIRST.bet, told The iGaming Europe:
“FIRST.bet is Brazil’s largest B2B sports betting supplier. Our Brazilian operator clients represent more than €350 million in annual sports betting GGR, according to our own estimate. The impact is significant.
We operate across regulated markets globally, and regulatory shocks are part of the risk we have to manage. We cannot assume this decision is permanent, or that everything will return unchanged. A full reversal, tighter restrictions, sports betting returning without casino, and a lasting closure are all possible.
We expect the ban to strengthen an already substantial unlicensed market, taking business away from the regulated supply chain. Our job is to support our operators, prepare for different outcomes and adapt. Nobody can say today exactly what comes back, or when.”
The B2B exposure
FIRST.bet supplies its sportsbook to Brazilian brands including 7Games, Betão, R7 and Cassino Bet.
Light’s warning about the unlicensed market echoes other reactions. Flutter Brazil has cited estimates that 38% to 44% of Brazil’s online betting was already unlicensed before the ban. The National Association of Games and Lotteries (ANJL) warned before the measure was signed that a ban would push players to illegal sites.
What happens next
The measure took effect immediately but lapses unless Congress approves it within 120 days, not counting parliamentary recess. Brazil holds the first round of its presidential election on 4 October, and trade bodies are preparing court challenges.
One of Light’s scenarios, sports betting returning without online casino, reflects an option the government weighed before signing, when a casino-only ban was on the table. The market at stake produced around $7 billion in GGR in its first regulated year.
Source: FIRST.bet
