Brazil’s New Gambling Advertising Rules: How the 2026 Crackdown Is Reshaping Betting, Affiliates and Influencers

Brazil entered 2026 as one of the world's most closely watched regulated online gambling markets. It is ending the year with an increasingly different reputation: not simply as a growth opportunity, but as a test of how governments can regulate the entire digital ecosystem surrounding betting.

On 27 August 2026, Brazil's National Advertising Self-Regulation Council (CONAR) approved a significant revision of Annex X of the Brazilian Advertising Self-Regulation Code. Announced publicly on 28 August, the framework expands restrictions on gambling advertising, increases protections for children and adolescents, and, particularly importantly for the affiliate industry, places greater emphasis on the conduct of influencers and affiliates.

The direction is clear. In Brazil, gambling compliance is moving beyond the casino or sportsbook itself.

From Market Expansion to Market Supervision

Brazil's federally regulated fixed-odds betting market formally began operating under the new licensing framework on 1 January 2025. According to Brazil's Secretariat of Prizes and Betting (SPA), 17.7 million Brazilians used authorized betting websites and applications during the first six months of 2025. Licensed operators generated approximately R$17.4 billion in Gross Gaming Revenue (GGR), equivalent to an average effective expenditure of around R$164 per active bettor per month (Ministério da Fazenda, 2025).

Regulation simultaneously exposed the size of the illegal ecosystem. By the end of the first half of 2025, authorities reported that 15,463 illegal betting webpages had been taken offline since October 2024.

This created a regulatory paradox. Brazil successfully established a very large licensed digital gambling market, but regulators then had to ensure that advertising, social media, affiliates, and illegal competitors did not undermine the protections created by licensing.

That challenge has increasingly defined 2026.

What Changed in August 2026?

CONAR's revised Annex X is considerably more important than a routine advertising-code update.

The organization identified five major areas of intervention: illegal betting advertising, mandatory gambling-risk warnings, influencer and affiliate marketing, responsible gambling, and protection of children and adolescents.

One of the most significant proposals is increased monitoring of gambling influencers, including a program for accrediting influencers permitted to advertise betting products.

Affiliates are also explicitly brought deeper into the compliance structure. Brazil's Ministry of Finance lists regulating advertising through internet affiliates as an active item in its 2026 regulatory agenda, intended to strengthen requirements governing affiliate advertising.

Mandatory Gambling Warnings

The August changes did not emerge in isolation.

In July 2026, the Ministry of Finance had already strengthened gambling advertising requirements. Advertising must carry prescribed warnings addressing issues such as gambling dependency, financial loss, and the fact that betting should not be represented as an investment. The Ministry also stipulated that the warnings must be clearly legible and occupy at least 10% of the advertisement's area.

The government simultaneously widened responsibility beyond licensed operators to agents participating in gambling promotion.

For affiliates, comparison websites and influencers, this represents one of Brazil's most consequential regulatory developments.

Brazil Is Also Regulating the Interface

For mobile gambling companies, regulation increasingly affects product and interface design rather than simply advertising copy.

CONAR specifically highlighted restrictions involving imagery that could appeal to children. Humanized animals and other youth-oriented visual elements, for example, may be inappropriate in gambling advertising and should in some circumstances be restricted to age-gated operator channels.

This is not theoretical.

During 2026, CONAR ruled against advertisements involving animated animal imagery and separately considered cases involving inadequate age-gating and gambling promotion involving an adolescent influencer.

Casino and betting apps targeting Brazil therefore need compliance to extend through the entire mobile acquisition funnel:

advertisement → affiliate → landing page → registration → app/web app → gambling account.

Age controls, responsible-gambling messaging, promotional language and influencer content increasingly need to operate as one compliance system.

Who Is Gambling in Brazil?

Demographic data also provides useful context for why advertising policy has become politically significant.

DataSenado's 2024 national research estimated that approximately 22.1 million Brazilians aged 16 or older had participated in sports betting during the previous 30 days. Among those bettors, 62% were men and 38% were women, while 56% were younger than 40 (DataSenado, 2024).

Once regulated-market data became available, the demographic picture became more precise.

The SPA reported that during H1 2025 [ first half of 2025]:

The data suggests that women already constitute a substantial minority of Brazil's regulated betting population, almost three in ten active bettors, even though the market remains heavily male-skewed.

That represents an opportunity for operators to develop products and communications for a broader audience. However, it should not be seen as simply another acquisition segment. Responsible gambling, financial affordability and non-stereotypical marketing are likely to become increasingly important as operators compete for female audiences.

Addiction and the Public-Health Challenge

Brazil's regulatory tightening cannot be understood without considering gambling-related harm.

In July 2026, Brazil's Ministry of Health launched a national campaign addressing the risks associated with online betting and promoting mental-health support available through the country's SUS public-health system.

The Ministry highlighted characteristics of digital betting environments, including 24-hour accessibility, notifications, bonuses, live betting,, and variable rewards, noting that problematic use can lead people to gamble longer or spend more than intended.

Gambling disorder is recognized as an addictive behavioral disorder.

This helps explain why advertising regulators are increasingly interested in how products are promoted rather than simply whether the underlying operator holds a license.

As CONAR president Eduardo Simon stated when announcing the August reforms:

“Betting has been occupying a prominent position in public debate.”

Simon linked this growing attention to concerns surrounding gambling's individual and collective impacts and demands for stronger advertising restrictions (CONAR, 2026).

For the industry, that is an important signal: Brazil's gambling debate has moved from whether betting should be regulated toward how a regulated market should behave socially.

SWOT Analysis: Brazil's iGaming Market Entering 2027

The strategic opportunity is therefore changing.

In 2024–2025, competitive advantage was largely about acquisition. In 2027, differentiation could increasingly come from trust, localization, responsible gambling technology and compliant user experience.

2027 Forecast: Compliance Becomes Part of the Product

CasinoAppReview's base-case outlook is that Brazil will remain one of Latin America's most commercially important online gambling markets in 2027, but customer acquisition will become more regulated and potentially more expensive.

Three developments appear particularly likely.

First, affiliate oversight will increase. The Ministry of Finance already identifies internet-affiliate advertising regulation as an area under development, while CONAR's revised framework explicitly increases affiliate responsibility.

Second, illegal-market enforcement will continue. Brazil demonstrated the scale of that effort by blocking more than 15,000 illegal webpages during the early regulated-market period.

Third, responsible gambling will increasingly become a technology issue. Age verification, self-exclusion, behavioral monitoring, deposit controls and safer marketing are likely to become more integrated into mobile casino and sportsbook platforms.

This creates an interesting reversal in competitive strategy.

The operators capable of displaying fewer inappropriate advertisements, providing clearer information and identifying problematic behavior more effectively may ultimately become stronger brands.

Brazil Is Becoming a Compliance Laboratory for Global iGaming

Brazil's August 2026 advertising reforms should therefore be viewed as more than a national regulatory update.

They illustrate a wider direction of travel for regulated online gambling.

Responsibility is moving outward from operators toward advertising networks, social platforms, influencers, affiliates and digital publishers. At the same time, regulation is moving inward - into the design of apps, advertising creatives, age-gating systems and player-protection technology.

For operators entering Brazil in 2027, the question will no longer simply be how quickly they can acquire players.

It will be whether they can acquire them legally, transparently and sustainably.

For affiliates and influencers, the message is even clearer: in Brazil's next phase of gambling regulation, marketing compliance is becoming everyone's responsibility.

References / Works Cited

Conselho Nacional de Autorregulamentação Publicitária. (2026, August 28). Atualização do Anexo “X” amplia restrições à publicidade de apostas. CONAR.
https://www.conar.org.br/noticias/atualizacao-do-anexo-x-amplia-restricoes-a-publicidade-de-apostas

Conselho Nacional de Autorregulamentação Publicitária. (2026, August 27). CONAR atualiza as regras para a publicidade de apostas. CONAR.
https://www.conar.org.br/noticias/conar-atualiza-as-regras-para-a-publicidade-de-apostas

Instituto de Pesquisa DataSenado. (2024). Panorama Político 2024: Apostas esportivas, golpes digitais e endividamento. Senado Federal.
https://www.senado.leg.br/institucional/datasenado/relatorio_online/pesquisa_aposta_esportiva/2024/interativo.html

Ministério da Fazenda. (2025, August 26). No primeiro semestre, 17,7 milhões de brasileiros realizaram apostas de quota fixa e ultrapassou-se o total de 15 mil sites ilegais bloqueados. Secretaria de Prêmios e Apostas.
https://www.gov.br/fazenda/

Ministério da Fazenda. (2026, July 13). Ministério da Fazenda amplia exigências de publicidade de apostas no país. Governo Federal.
https://www.gov.br/fazenda/pt-br/assuntos/noticias/2026/julho/ministerio-da-fazenda-amplia-exigencias-de-publicidade-de-apostas-no-pais

Ministério da Fazenda. (2026). Agenda Regulatória 2026. Secretaria de Prêmios e Apostas.
https://www.gov.br/fazenda/pt-br/composicao/orgaos/secretaria-de-premios-e-apostas/agenda-regulatoria/2026

Ministério da Saúde. (2026, July 26). Campanha do Ministério da Saúde orienta sobre riscos das apostas online e atendimento em saúde mental no SUS. Governo Federal.
https://www.gov.br/saude/pt-br/assuntos/noticias-ms/2026/julho/campanha-do-ministerio-da-saude-orienta-sobre-riscos-das-apostas-online-e-atendimento-em-saude-mental-no-sus