January’s sports betting launch in Brazil saw a wave of international giants enter the hotly awaited market, and they don’t come much bigger than Flutter.
A dominant global force in gaming, the operator has become market leader in the US through its FanDuel brand and has expressed similar lofty ambitions in Latin America.
In September 2024, Flutter acquired a 56% stake in NSX, the parent company of Brazil-facing brand Betnacional. That same month, the company insisted the deal boosted its market share to 11%. NSX provided the operator with a wealth of local talent and experience.
The deal was completed in May, when NSX CEO Joao Studart stepped into the top job at the newly formed Flutter Brazil.
The agreement mirrored Flutter’s strategy across Europe and the US, combining local brand strength and the group’s financial and technology firepower and global structure. For Studart, the deal made perfect sense and marked a new chapter for the Brazil sports betting market.
“Flutter saw in Brazil not only an opportunity for strategic expansion, but also a market with real prominence within the global sector,” Studart tells iGB. “It recognised in Betnacional a successful example of genuine connection with Brazilian fans – a popular, culturally rooted and fast-growing brand.”
M&A specialist Christian Tirabassi, founder and senior partner of Ficom Leisure, believes Betnacional was a top-10 player in Brazil’s pre-regulated market.
Acquiring a local hero of this size meant Flutter could achieve an early-mover advantage, a key benefit in such a highly competitive market.
“The opening of other markets has shown us that whoever is early into the market has an important market share and will probably stay there or even increase that leading position,” Tirabassi says.
Local prowess
Stakeholders have noted just how important localisation is to succeed in Brazil, which differs culturally from its LatAm neighbours even beyond the language distinctions.
Pre-regulation, many shared the belief that international entrants could struggle in Brazil unless they properly localised through a boots-on-the-ground approach that differs vastly from their other markets.
Studart believes Flutter Brazil combines NSX and Betnacional’s local prowess and the Flutter Edge technology stack, bringing scale and local autonomy.
“Flutter Brazil [is] an operation that remains Brazilian at its core, with local leadership and a deep understanding of the consumer,” Studart explains. “At the same time, it operates with the resources, governance and technology of a global group.
“Through the Flutter Edge, we brought to Brazil state-of-the-art tools, a robust infrastructure, high-level compliance standards and a responsible gaming programme tailored to the country’s reality.
“At the same time, we preserved Betnacional’s essence as a local hero – a brand that represents the Brazilian spirit of football, entertainment and popular culture.”
Brazil’s launch has dominated gaming news in the last couple of years. A huge nation with a population of around 213 million, Brazil has a vibrant sporting culture, and many expected its opening to provide an entry into LatAm’s growing gambling opportunity.
H2 Gambling Capital ranks Betano, Superbet and Bet365 as its top three players by market share, according to its revenue estimates. International entrants are clearly gaining a strong foothold in the market.
Since the launch, operator revenue figures for Brazil have varied. In Q1 most listed players reported strong numbers as early entrants, but as competition has increased, and KYC pressures remain, some have seen that growth slow slightly.
In Q3 London-listed Entain warned that iGaming was not performing as well as it could be, due to a slow and arduous certification process, which meant few games were available in the market during the period. Flutter reported revenue of $87 million in Brazil in Q3, marking a 412% uptick on the same period in 2024, prior to regulation.
Of course, this year the company has included NSX’s revenues within its mix, with Betnacional reportedly achieving record iGaming revenues during the quarter. Excluding NSX’s revenue, Flutter saw a 18% year-on-year revenue drop across its Betfair brand in Brazil.
Group CEO Peter Jackson said this was due to its continued recovery from bottlenecks that occurred during and following the regulatory process.
Ed Birkin, H2 Gambling Capital managing director, estimates Flutter Brazil is currently sitting in fifth position in the market with a 4.5% market share.
“While it’s still very competitive at the moment, I would imagine Flutter’s strategy will be focused on getting the best product [out],” Birkin explains. “And then as other people start to pull back, which is going to happen at some point because the losses that I’d imagine a lot of companies are making aren’t sustainable, that’s when they will start to leverage their financial firepower, start to lean in as they call it and pick up the slack.”
A slice of the pie
The Flutter Edge platform is the core function powering the operator’s ‘local heroes’ strategy, through which it has acquired numerous leading brands in various markets and integrated them into the central platform.
Analysts are bullish on the power of the Edge platform. In December 2024 Macquarie senior gaming analyst Chad Beynon estimated the platform would help Flutter gain up to 25% market share in Brazil by 2030.
In his December note Beynon said the platform had proven to affect market share gains in new markets quickly. He also said further M&A was on the cards for Flutter in LatAm.
“Flutter Edge brings to Brazil state-of-the-art resources in infrastructure, data intelligence, innovation and compliance – ensuring that our brands operate with robustness, speed and security,” Studart says. “At the same time, we have the freedom to adapt products, experiences and strategies to local realities, delivering tailored solutions that truly connect with our audience.
“It is precisely this combination of global structure and local leadership that positions Flutter Brazil among the most prepared companies to lead the sector – with consistency, credibility and a positive impact on the entire ecosystem.”
Birkin expects Flutter will invest heavily in marketing further down the line, as competition slows and others pull back from the market. This will enable it to capitalise on waning competition, a strategy that worked for Flutter in stunning fashion in the US.
“My view is the best strategy would be to focus on integrating their very strong technology and knowhow into the Betnacional business to improve the product,” Birkin says. “Once they’ve got the product where they want it, then to spend their money on marketing as others pull back on it.
“What you’d notice in the US is that as people started pulling back on bonusing and marketing, as lots of operators were loss-making, they pull back, then FanDuel starts to lean in and kind of use their scale to take customers.”
Birkin notes Bet365 employed a similar strategy in the US, where the operator avoided spending huge amounts to gain brand awareness. Instead, it operated efficiently in the background, waiting to make market share gains when others pulled back.
The sheer scale of Flutter Brazil compared to smaller operators is demonstrated by its massive local workforce of over 500. The business operates multiple functions locally, including technology, marketing and customer services. The company also recently changed its corporate structure, with a raft of new C-level appointments to work alongside Studart.
Flutter Brazil has drawn from other sectors to build out its executive team, while also ensuring a combination of international expertise with a “deep cultural connection” to Brazil.
“The IT team is a great example of this integration, with professionals from Flutter’s international structure working remotely in collaboration with the local team, expanding our capacity for innovation and integration,” Studart adds.
“The new executives bring extensive experience in their fields, foster local reach and lead highly qualified teams that are already recognised as industry benchmarks, always operating with responsibility and a long-term vision. With Betnacional as part of its brand ecosystem, the goal is to sustain an operation centred on Brazilian talent and local insight.”
Further M&A
Tirabassi shares Benyon’s view that Flutter will make other acquisitions in LatAm, in part due to their strong history of successful M&A across its global portfolio and with the company’s sights set on reaching the summit of the regulated Brazil sector.
“Their objective, clearly, is to become number one, and that’s why I think they’re going to make other acquisitions,” Tirabassi says. “Large ones that would allow them to be quickly number one or number two, so something of the same size or similar size. I think that Flutter is actively looking for an [M&A] target. I know that for sure.”
But Tirabassi knows well that this process isn’t easy.
“We believe the issue [in Brazil] is finding a target which is ready to transact,” Tirabassi adds. “Being on the sell side, the majority of the work we do is prepare the target, because they’re not ready. We understand the priority is business. But then again, very big business, very small corporate. So that’s why we’re trying to kind of help them to realign the size of the corporate together with the size of the business.
“They need at least a couple of quarters to organise the company. So, we expect that in 2026 you will see some additional M&A in the market, because targets will be in a better position than now to engage in a transaction with a company like Flutter.”
With Birkin currently ranking Flutter Brazil and its Betnacional and Betfair brands at number five in the market, he has reservations over whether they can scramble to the top spot. H2’s numbers give Betano, Superbet and Bet365 a combined 47% of the market, and Birkin feels that could be a tough trio to crack for Flutter.
“They want to be in a podium position,” Birkin explains. “On our numbers that would involve them overtaking Sportingbet and Superbet. Is that possible? Yes. Do I see them being able to capture in a year, five years, Betano and Bet365? That would involve a significant change in market structure.”
Tirabassi, however, is a little more confident and believes in the value of the NSX acquisition. Add to that Flutter’s capability to conduct more M&A, and Flutter could certainly buy its way to the top.
“I think the difference is that culturally, the Flutter group has been extremely capable in M&A, they have a very strong team and also the guys that come after the deal. Betano has basically no experience in M&A or very little so it’s not really their culture.”
Ultimately, Studart is confident Flutter Brazil will continue to make strides in the new and exciting Brazil market.
“The Brazilian market is going through a phase of consolidation that brings great opportunities for operators who invest with seriousness, a consumer-first mindset and a commitment to best practices,” Studart concludes.
“The progress of regulation has laid the foundation for a more balanced ecosystem – one that combines innovation with responsibility. Flutter Brazil sees this new scenario as fertile ground for sustainable growth. By combining global scale with a deep understanding of local specificities, we aim to actively contribute to the sector’s maturation – offering relevant and safe experiences to users while reinforcing the pillars of trust, transparency and Brazilian culture that underpin our brands.”
Flutter Brazil CEO Joao Studart explains how the new chapter in Brazil is going, and why he believes the acquisition of Betnacional-owner NSX will ultimately lead to market success.