Online Casino Games – A New Booming Market in Brazil
In the 00s, iGaming developed from the business in its natal stages to a behemoth industry it is today. Its growth meant also the growth of emerging markets – some of which experienced it at an extremely rapid pace. One of the most valuable regions for iGaming is LATAM, in which stabilizing political situation, as well as increasing usage of internet and mobile devices, created fertile ground for betting and casino industries.
If it comes to market size, the biggest in the region turned to be Brazil. As gambling was strictly prohibited in the country since after WWII, the market started to form based on offshore online betting and casino platforms. The situation changed in 2018 with first official regulations on online gambling in Brazil set into motion – although they well fully passed just in 2023, and new laws are continued to be introduced.
With the regulatory efforts in the background, the market rose to a titanic scale. Brazil is currently the third largest online gambling market in the world. The online casino market specifically is projected to reach a value of 1.4 billion USD in 2025 and reach 3.7 billion USD in 2029i.
This makes this market really attractive from the business side, and valuable direction for marketers to expand their services. But to fully understand this phenomenon, we must first go back to the roots of Brazilian affliction with games of chance.
Background of the Brazilian online gambling boom
The first factor that may be the most obvious reason for popularity of online gambling is the widespread Internet usage in Brazil. Following the somewhat troubled development in 00s, in the 10s Internet infrastructure started to be reliable and of higher standard, including ever rising broadband coverage starting from major cities. Today, Brazil is the leader of the Internet penetration in Latin America. It reached nearly 85% penetration in 2024, which already makes it the fifth biggest online population in the world and projected to get to 98% in 2029ii. It translates to a country with an overwhelming number of Internet-savvy users who naturally also get a lot of their entertainment from online sources.
The second important factor for the gambling boom is the fact that games of chance are deeply rooted in Brazilian culture itself. Dice games and other similar classic betting games were brought to Brazil by Portuguese. Until 1946 ban, gambling was popular nationwide, including the booming luxury casino business. After the ban, state-operated lotteries remained legal and very popular. Brazil had also their local spins on games of chance, such as Jogo do Bicho (Animal Game) – which remained popular despite its illegal status, with underground culture of parlors run by shady operators known as bicheiros. Informal gambling was also a big part of local festive events and community activities.
That said, the main driver behind iGaming popularity in Brazil was the love of its citizens for sports. With prominent athletes and teams in many disciplines, Brazilians involvement in sport is even stronger than in many other countries. Football for example is ingrained deep in Brazilian culture and penetrates the daily life of the whole society – fueled by ever successful national team and an impressive number of pro players around the world. Volleyball, martial arts or basketball are also followed religiously by massive number of Brazilian fans. And C. Before the legalization, online sports betting on foreign platforms was common, and after the 2018 law changes the market really started to grow – a 2024 survey suggest that 15% of overall Brazil’s population claims to engage in online bettingiii. From 2021, betting platforms based on the Internet recorded a growth of 734%iv. Although there are much more popular gambling forms in Brazil – such as lotteries – sports betting is largely responsible for iGaming boom, and online casinos rode the wave.
Success stories – games that took over Brazil by storm
But what kind of iGaming products are Brazilians most into? It’s worth taking a look at three top success stories of online casino games in Brazil to learn the taste of the population in the games of chance and what are they are attracted to.
Launched in 2022, Fortune Tiger, developed by PG Soft, has rapidly become one of Brazil’s most popular online casino games. The game’s vibrant graphics and engaging gameplay expanding typical slots scope have particularly attracted younger audiences, embedding Fortune Tiger into Brazil’s digital culture. The game became somewhat of a new popculture fad, generating memes and online communities, and earning local nicknames like Jogo do Tigre or Tigrinho. This popularity is largely attributed to influencer marketing on platforms such as TikTok, Instagram and YouTube, where users showcased substantial wins and strategies, fueling widespread interest. Thanks to such practices the game saw a significant surge in interest, with searches for Jogo do Tigre peaking at 1,2 million in August 2023v, surpassing traditional favorites like online roulette. The game was also subject to many controversies due to the marketing spam accounts and scam practices around affiliate links – which got the case even on national TV, ironically boosting the interest in the game even further.
Aviator by Spribe, launched globally in 2019, is a crash game from a new generation of iGaming experiences. It’s a multiplayer, strategic real time betting game, where players place their bets on a launching plane that increases the multiplier with rising altitude and can crash or fly off at any time – with the option of removing the bet at the last minute. This unique formula provided to be winning especially for millennials and Gen Z, as young Brazilians like social experiences and mobile games, which gameplay Aviator emulates to an extent. The game even created dedicated online communities, participating in official tournaments hosted by Spribe. In 2024, Aviator remained a top played crash game in Brazil. vi From the marketing standpoint, Aviator has employed successful strategies to conquer Brazil. As with Fortune Tiger, lots of the buzz around the game was generated by influencers on social media platforms.
Closing the top three of products that exemplify the Brazil iGaming boom is Mines, also by Spribe and launched in 2021. This crash game is taking advantage of gameplay mode that every user of older PC’s will recognize – it’s heavily inspired by Minesweeper available in older Windows operating systems. In this game you uncover diamonds on block-based grid while avoiding mines that will make you lose your earnings. Although the game quickly went to lower placements in popularity (4th most popular crash game in Brazil as of May 24th) , its initial reception showed the power that interactivity, familiar gameplay and high risk-reward factor could win over Brazilian players. It’s also mobile-friendly, which translates well to how Brazilians use internet. As with previous games, large scale influencer endorsements on social media made a huge part of how Mines attained its popularity.
Market regulation effort and its consequences
If the vision of booming market with high player base feels a bit too enticing, there is of course a downside – the beforementioned regulatory effort by Brazil’s government, which creates barrier after barrier for operating online casinos and promoting the games. The current legislation aimed at lowering the negative effects of gambling on the populace requires a lot of effort to enter the market and abide by the rules. And there is a looming possibility of further regulations, providing even more constraints.
New legislation requires online casino operators to be registered by given authorities. The promotion of gambling products is also limited by laws that create an ethical gambling environment. Brazil’s gambling regulations impose strict rules on advertising and marketing, particularly regarding the use of celebrities who may appeal to minors, targeting minors with advertisements, and responsible gaming. The last element that highly affects advertising iGaming in Brazil is promotional regulations. Those limit incentives one can use to attract new players. This ban aims to prevent irresponsible gambling practices by discouraging aggressive marketing tactics.
Advertising in face of regulations
As we have seen through examples of the most popular games, the main advertising strategy in the past for Brazilian markets was using an overwhelming amounts of influencer marketing on social media. Influencer marketing in Brazil is still a bit of the gray area and this type of promotion has still a heavy presence. Nevertheless, this method is tainted such scandals as arrest of the first influencer who promoted Fortune Tiger in Brazil, Skarlete Melo, on charges of fraudulent promotion and taking profit from losesvii. Many other influencers had been arrested or prosecuted due to similar money-making schemes.
Some online casinos use different loyalty systems based on game-like mechanisms to attract younger audiences. Despite the government’s crackdown on bonuses, many such methods appear to be still the risky but working way.
A very powerful tool of promotion in Brazil is also Instagram. At the end of 2024, there were more than 141 million users of Instagram in Brazil – 63.8% of the populationviii. Most users are women, who are highly involved in iGaming. Some data suggest that there are already more real-money games female players than male in Brazilix. Having a good Instagram profile helps to promote iGaming products.
The other strategy we can see is sponsoring sports areas in a way that goes over the legal limit. Some brands do it but all in a smart way, in order not to get fined, still gaining reach and equity thanks to the powers of sports events, organizations and celebrities.
Why do global businesses leverage the iGaming success in Brazil?
Of course, the presence of such a fluctuating and evolving market needs a lot of local expertise, but the need for global players also in the marketing space will grow with the market. Most of the game providers especially come from Europe and Asia, so they naturally will be searching for help from globally savvy agencies which could bring their expertise and tailor it to Brazilian market. By understanding and adapting to Brazil’s unique cultural dynamics and consumer behaviors, global marketing firms can establish themselves as key players in the burgeoning Brazilian gambling market, driving both brand awareness and long-term customer loyalty. The long-term involvement in the Brazilian market may bring great effects for markers – both financial and in reputation. As the Brazilian government moves towards regulating and legalizing the sector, the market is expected to mature and offer increased stability and transparency. This means that early adopters when it comes to building innovative marketing strategies for Brazil will profit more from this boom than late-comers.
Why are we writing about that?
We are a marketing agency specializing in addressing younger, active target groups through tools like gaming marketing. Since we help our clients in different countries around the world, we have also aided them with iGaming marketing in Brazil. Clients who have turned to us came from Brazil or from external markets, like Europe or Asia. We are observing this rising trend closely, thus being part of it, we wanted to share our know-how.
Sources:
II. https://www.statista.com/forecasts/292757/brazil-internet-user-penetration
VII. https://env.media/what-is-fortune-tiger-and-why-is-it-so-popular-in-brazil/
VIII. https://napoleoncat.com/stats/instagram-users-in-brazil/2024/09/
IX. https://env.media/brazilian-female-gamers-profile-sports-betting-online-casino/