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Illegal online betting has grown faster than the systems built to police it, regulators from Brazil, Argentina and the United States said during Legitimuz Day 2026 in São Paulo.
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Brazil only brought federal betting regulation into force in January 2025, after years without a full national framework. Fábio Macorin, Deputy Secretary of the Prizes and Betting Secretariat of the Ministry of Finance, said that delay gave illegal operators room to grow.
“The lack of regulation allowed malicious actors to take advantage, causing immense damage to the country, to consumers, and to the industry as a whole,” he stated.
Now Brazil is building enforcement through partnerships rather than headcount alone. The Prizes and Betting Secretariat has about 80 employees, far fewer than the 400 gaming regulation professionals in Nevada. So, Brazil is working with Anatel to block illegal sites, CONAR on advertising rules, the Ministry of Health on self-assessment and self-exclusion, and the Digital Council to notify Meta, Google, TikTok and other platforms.
Giovanni Rocco, National Secretary of Sports Betting and Economic Development of Sport at the Ministry of Sport, said payment tracking gives Brazil another route.
“More than 95% of bets in Brazil are placed via Pix. This allows for capital tracking that countries using credit cards don’t have,” he said.
The panel, titled “International Best Practices in Betting Regulation: what can we learn and teach?”, also included Brian Krolicki, Vice President of the International Association of Gaming Regulators and former Nevada regulator, and Ezequiel Dominguez, Director of the Buenos Aires City Lottery. Fred Justo of Legitimuz moderated.
Krolicki said Nevada offers useful principles after 70 years of gaming regulation, but not a copy-and-paste model.
“What works in Nevada isn’t necessarily appropriate for other jurisdictions. But the principles – integrity, oversight, regulator independence, and transparent collaboration – are universal,” said Krolicki, as reported by BNL Data.
Online betting creates a different enforcement problem because no fixed border exists in the digital market.
“The criminals act quickly. Regulators need to act legally and transparently, which is slower. That’s why international cooperation is essential.”
Argentina faces its own version of the same issue. Dominguez said the country has a provincial model that works better for land-based gaming than online betting. He compared it to “24 countries in one,” with each province setting rules while offshore operators cross those lines with ease.
Buenos Aires has created a Specialized Gambling Prosecutor’s Office and can punish illegal operators with three to six years in prison. Its response also covers website blocking, school and parent awareness campaigns, and action against affiliates, ATMs and influencers promoting illegal gambling.
Brazil is also trying to align states through SINAPO, which includes 16 states and aims to standardize rules. In parallel, ANJL is helping with a virtual laboratory to detect illegal betting websites.
Dominguez said no country can handle the issue alone.
“The server may be in one country, the company in another, without an extradition agreement. Cooperation between regulators is the only way out,” stated Dominguez.