More than 10,600 court cases involving online betting companies have been filed in Brazil since 2018, highlighting growing disputes between operators and consumers as the country’s regulated betting market develops.
The figures come from an analysis by legal data company Predictus, commissioned by BBC News Brasil, which used artificial intelligence tools to identify betting-related cases across a database containing around 630 million judicial records from Brazilian courts.
The analysis identified 10,627 lawsuits involving at least one betting company between 2018 and May 2026. The number of cases increased sharply as the market expanded, with 5,488 new claims filed in 2025, when Brazil’s betting regulation began taking effect, followed by another 4,037 cases between January and May 2026.
However, most cases have yet to reach a final outcome. Of all claims identified by Predictus, only 38% had received a judicial decision, while 44.1% remained ongoing and 17.9% were closed without a decision on the merits.
Among the 3,438 cases that had been decided, bettors secured full or partial victories in 59.2% of rulings. This included 589 cases where consumers won completely and 1,446 where they won partially. Betting companies prevailed in 40.8% of decided cases, while 607 cases ended in settlements.
The most common identifiable complaints related to difficulties accessing funds. Predictus identified 3,791 cases with a high degree of confidence regarding the reason for the dispute, including complaints over blocked withdrawals, account restrictions and changes to betting rules after wagers had been placed.
Withdrawal disputes were among the most frequent complaints, with 429 cases involving blocked withdrawals, while 636 cases involved account blocks that bettors said prevented them from accessing funds. A further 629 cases concerned alleged unilateral changes to platform rules.
The geographical distribution of claims was concentrated in Brazil’s most populous regions. The Southeast accounted for 48.2% of cases (5,076 claims), followed by the Northeast with 29.3% (3,092 claims). São Paulo recorded the highest number of cases among individual cities, with 908 claims, followed by Rio de Janeiro with 628.
The increase in litigation comes as Brazil transitions from a largely offshore-driven betting environment to a regulated market overseen by the Ministry of Finance’s Secretariat of Prizes and Betting (SPA). The findings underline the consumer protection challenges facing operators as regulators seek to establish standards for the newly regulated sector.
More than 10,600 court cases involving online betting companies have been filed in Brazil since 2018, highlighting growing disputes between operators and consumers as the country’s regulated betting market develops. The figures come from an analysis by legal data company Predictus, commissioned by BBC News Brasil, which used artificial intelligence tools to identify betting-related cases