SOFTSWISS 2027 Outlook Collides With Brazil’s Sudden Betting Ban
SOFTSWISS forecasts a maturing $349B global iGaming market for 2027, but Brazil's abrupt betting ban stole the spotlight at its Lisbon launch.
This article was produced with AI assistance and edited by the ON360 newsroom.
SOFTSWISS used the run-up to SBC Summit in Lisbon to unveil its fifth annual iGaming Trends Report, forecasting a global online gambling market worth $349 billion in gross gaming revenue for 2026. Within hours, the conversation at the invite-only preview turned almost entirely to Brazil, where a government ban on online betting had just upended one of the industry’s most closely watched growth stories.
Gambling Insider was among a small group of media invited to the launch, held at a vineyard outside Lisbon during SBC Summit week. Speakers from SOFTSWISS, AWS, Pentasia and Google took part, with CNN’s Elliott Gotkine moderating a discussion meant to focus on AI, personalization and the industry’s next billion-dollar markets.
A maturing industry, on paper
SOFTSWISS’s report argues that iGaming is becoming inseparable from the broader digital economy, with regulation, payments, artificial intelligence, customer acquisition, cybersecurity and data infrastructure increasingly functioning as one operating model rather than separate concerns.
Alexandra Kavelich, SOFTSWISS’s Deputy CMO, told the room that the sector’s breakneck growth is slowing. She framed that as evidence of maturity, not decline. Robin Harrison, Global Content Director B2B at WorldGaming, pointed to a quieter shift underway beneath the AI headlines: compliance systems, payment rails and monitoring tools are becoming more tightly linked.
Olga Resiga of SOFTSWISS offered a blunter summary of how operators should read big emerging markets. “Big market doesn’t mean profitable market, but ready market,” she said.
Brazil upends the script
President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s government issued a provisional measure on September 25 banning online betting in Brazil. Flutter Entertainment responded by halting both sports betting and iGaming operations in the country. The measure needs congressional approval or amendment within 120 days to remain in force, and Flutter has said it is reviewing its options, including a possible appeal.
Flutter estimates that staying out of Brazil through the end of 2026 would cut revenue by roughly $70 million and adjusted EBITDA by about $20 million. The company had acquired a 56 percent stake in NSX in 2025, merging Betnacional with Betfair Brazil in a deal worth $674 million in total consideration. Brazil generated $146 million for Flutter in the first half of 2026 alone.
As recently as August, outgoing Flutter CEO Peter Jackson had called Brazil “an attractive long-term opportunity.”
Harrison did not soften the contrast during the Lisbon discussion. “It’s very difficult in the wake of what happened in Brazil on Friday to say that the regulatory side is not potentially putting on more pressure,” he said, adding that “the regulation doesn’t feel as mature as the industry.” He put it more starkly still: “Brazil is obviously a great example of what happens when that trust isn’t there because, as of 6th October, we don’t have a market anymore.”
A report overtaken by events
SOFTSWISS’s own Latin America section, drafted before the ban, describes Brazil as already among the world’s largest online betting markets and names Betano, Superbet and Bet365 as its three biggest brands by market share. Lawyer Udo Seckelmann of Bichara e Motta Advogados is quoted predicting “greater market consolidation” in Brazil during 2027 and “a greater focus on responsible gambling and compliance,” while warning that regulatory stability would be essential to attracting long-term investment.
Days after the report went to print, that stability disappeared. For operators weighing exposure to newly regulated markets, the episode is a reminder that legal frameworks can shift quickly, even after significant capital has already been committed. Ontario’s regulated model, overseen by the AGCO and iGaming Ontario, requires licensed operators to offer deposit limits and self-exclusion tools regardless of how the wider market evolves, a contrast some in Lisbon noted when discussing where the next stable growth market might emerge.
Related: Flutter Exits Brazil After Betting Ban, Facing $70M Hit Before CEO Handover