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In 2025, Brazil collected almost BRL10 billion ($1.97 billion) in tax revenue from the licensed sector. In the first seven months of this year alone, BRL8.7 billion generated by the activity was delivered to public coffers. The Federal Revenue Service itself estimates that the sector should reach BRL16 billion in revenue during 2026.
Besides revenue collection, another concern is legal and economic. Companies have paid over BRL2.5 billion for licences since the sector’s regulation. Certainly, the end of the activity would lead to litigation to recover the amounts paid and compensation for investments made. Furthermore, the revenue from betting is already included in the Annual Budget Law and the Budget Guidelines Law, which define the priorities for federal government spending.
What worries the sector is not just the threat of drastic measures against legalised betting. So far, the government has consistently fallen short in its attempts to curb the illegal market, which still represents almost half of the segment.
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Nederlandse Loterij has announced plans to appeal portions of the Lalabet decision, particularly arguing that trust firms have a duty to properly vet their clients.
The operator was also investigating the roles of the same trust firm in relation to Qbet and Skyhills, indicating further legal proceedings may be forthcoming once corporate structures are clarified.
The crackdown on illegal gambling sites coincided with a broader policy debate in The Hague. The Dutch House of Representatives is set to discuss gambling regulation reforms this week.
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What else can Netherlands gambling operators do to stop the flow of players offshore? Holland Casino is a member of online gambling trade association VNLOK which represents 90% of the licensed operators, and Petra answers simply: “If we knew the answer, we would try to reach it.
“What I do think is that deciding together, not only as operators, but together with politicians and stakeholders, that a legal market is very important to get that done. We’re not there yet, and that’s what we’re saying.
“An unregulated market doesn’t become a safe market. People will always gamble, so we have to make sure that we have a strong legal market. And so you also need to give us some room to exist. And of course, we need to be regulated. A regulated market is always better than an illegal market.”
