Winning in Brazil: Crafting High-Impact Online Gambling Promotions that Convert Local Players

At the start of 2025, the Brazilian iGaming market woke up to a very new reality. The entire sector, which had till that moment been a grey market in nature — illegal and unregulated — went all in on regulations.

The government had been consulting on this change for a while and laws were being finalized to ensure smooth transition. Major players in the industry were expected to lead the charge, with only 81 operators gaining licenses initially from the Prizes and Betting Secretariat of Brazil’s Ministry of Finance.

The outcome?

A clarity on the rules of operation, taxation, licensing, compliance and penalties — a key requirement for global players into the world’s 10th largest iGaming market.

If you’re intent on gaining long-term customers in Brazil, learning which types of online gambling promotions work in this market is critical. Continue reading to know the promo checklist, examples of what’s worked and compliance pointers to evade penalties.

Why Brazil Matters from a Business Perspective

First, let’s understand why Brazil matters as an online casino and gambling market for any brand, operator or network looking to grow beyond local shores.

As of 2024, Brazil had a population of 2.12 million people, which constitutes almost 3% of the world’s population. Just looking at this number, the market seems like a drop in the ocean.

However, in the very first six months post licensing, the newly regulated market produced a GGR of $3.2 billion (or BRL 17.4 billion). According to the SPA, this entire quantum of revenue comes from 17.7 active bettors.

Of all the participants in this transformed market, about 71% were men, while the rest were women. Betting occurred most commonly among those between 31 and 40 years of age, suggesting a relatively younger engaged demographic.

In fact, about 24% of bettors were even younger, between 18 and 25 years of age. Another significant segment for online gambling promotions was observed between ages 25 and 30, which made up roughly 22% of those involved in the same activity.

A younger audience set is a positive sign for online casino operators and brands, since it signals the potential for a longer association with the same customer set through the effective use of retention strategies. 

For affiliate networks, understanding cues for what works with younger audiences is crucial. This is a demographic which shares and engages. So your online gambling affiliate marketing tactics must be built around quick sign-ups, trusted influencer links and potential virality.

Additionally, the combination of a younger audience set and an emerging market means there’s more room to grow and innovate. Networks, brands and operators can try technologically diverse solutions or complex gaming solutions on their platforms for a digitally native group of people.

While the signals are all positive, it is vital to know if the market conditions are favourable for your iGaming niche, and whether the rules are conducive to your growth.

Brazil’s Marketing and Regulatory Context

Understanding what works and what doesn’t from a legal and compliance perspective is the first step in advertising online gambling effectively in a given country. 

Let’s look at the finer details under the broader market regulations in Brazil which matter for online gambling promotions.

1. The Regulatory Body

The Secretariat of Prizes and Betting (SPA) is the body responsible for managing, licensing, data collection, legal enforcement and penalization when it comes to online betting in the LATAM country.

2. The Legal Activities

Under the latest regulations, operators and brands can offer fixed odds betting, online sports betting and online casino games to Brazilian citizens. These particular activities are ‘regulated’ for the purposes of iGaming business operations at the moment. Of course, more activities may get the nod as time goes on.

3. Laws Driving these Changes

Although this market change was initiated way back in 2018 with Law no. 13,756, the implementation of regulations only occurred from December 2024 with laws such as no. 14,790/2023 and ordinances numbered 1,207, 1,225 and 1,231. 

4. Taxation Rules

The tax rate on gross gaming revenue (GGR) for operators and brands stands at 12%. It could increase further to 18% as the market gains more stability, or the volume of online gambling promotions balloons. At the player level, earnings or winnings above certain thresholds attract a personal income tax of 15%. Additionally, providers of all services in and around iGaming also must pay corporate taxes and local service taxes as applicable.

5. Validity of Licenses

Initially to get the regulated market started up, only 69 operators were given full licenses, while 34 received provisional ones. A full license has a validity of 5 years and is ideal for most iGaming operations to secure. 

For operators and brands, the cost of licensing is an overhead which needs to be calculated and configured within the operational costs. The customer acquisition costs (CAC) and ROI need to be built around the complete expenses of operating in Brazil, and your online gambling advertising strategy must factor in such calculations to achieve profitability.

Networks need to look out for compliance when onboarding operators or brands. Additionally, there are ad restrictions (being discussed by law makers) which need to be known so that online gambling promotions aren’t penalized.

Overall, this simply suggests strategies in one country cannot be blindly aped in another. What works for your online casino in the UK cannot be applied directly in Brazil.

Who is the Brazilian Player: Profile and Behaviour

Once the financial aspects are sorted out, your next step should be to understand the market. And there’s no better way to do this than knowing your player.

Decoding the iGaming player in Brazil is vital to ensure the target audience receives your marketing messages and promotions as intended, and reacts positively to them.

Here are some broad themes that can help you figure this group out.

Mobile-first Behaviour

Back in 2024, the percentage of those who possessed a mobile phone for personal usage in Brazil stood at a whopping 88.9% of those over the age of 10. In terms of age, other groups showed even more adoption. Within the 25-29 age segment, the percentage of those with handheld mobile devices went up to 96.5%.

According to a study conducted by Statistica in 2024, on mobile phone internet usage, it was found that mobile phones were responsible for 54% of total web traffic in Brazil.  

Based on this usage history, mobile-based optimization for online gambling promotions is critical to succeeding in this market. From landing pages to offers and checkout paths, everything needs to be worked around a mobile app and web-based preference.

Payment Preferences

Brazil has seen a virulent adoption of the payment application, Pix. You could almost say everyone uses it. 

According to local reports, 37.4 billion transactions occurred through Pix in 2023. By the start of 2025, almost 20 million businesses and over 165 million individual users were registered on the platform. In fact, some iGaming reports suggest over 80% bettors use Pix for deposits and even prefer it for withdrawals of winnings.

Given that the market shows such a strong preference for a mode of transactions, it is hard to ignore. Offering it as a default (or a major option) on sign-up and payment pages is critical or ensuring registrations occur without any experiential breaks.

Cultural and Local Cues

While certain sports see a huge following in the LATAM country (think: football), it is hard to ignore even the lesser known games in this sports-obsessed country. For online gambling promotions, iGaming niches become more relevant. 

Here’s a look at what the numbers state:

• An ‘Opinion Box’ survey conducted in 2024 revealed that 17% of survey participants had placed some type of sports bet in the previous 12 months. Those between the ages of 16 and 29 expressed 23% participation in the same duration.
• Another research conducted by ‘Fulltrader Sports’ found that the micro esports betting trend was helmed primarily by those between 18 and 30 years of age. A 41% increase was reported in microbets alone for events like local League of Legend championships and Valorant tournaments.

The younger age group of participants and the types of iGaming they enjoy suggests that promotions must contain:

• Locally relevant messaging
• With slang and memetic cultural components
• And reference internet cultural fixtures 
• In an omni-channel format that covers the length and breadth of the digital space occupied by local Brazilians.

Which Online Gambling Promotions Work in Brazil? 

The local online casino and gambling market has just been regulated. This indicates that at the moment, players may develop and exhibit a novelty-inclined behavior. 

First-time deposits are going to be a draw for most. But it doesn’t guarantee they’ll stick around. Let’s take a look at what kind of promotional formats are likely to succeed in such a space.

Instant Deposit Match via Pix

The Brazilian central bank revealed to Reuters that $5.1 billion a month were being wagered every month through online betting as of 2025. Of this amount, 94% was coming back to users as rewards or winnings.

Additionally, it has been observed that speed and lowered friction lead to better FTD conversion rates in most contexts. Therefore, using a seamless flow, in a short term format with easy deposit and withdrawal systems is likely to result in profitable online gambling promotions.

Here’s what your offer could be:

“First Pix deposit today? Get 100 % match up to BRL 1,000 + your first live bet risk-free.”

Loyalty tied to Local Fixtures

Of course, promotions like the previous ones are acquisition-forward. However, as the market matures, that alone won’t be enough. And this is one of those times when first-mover advantage can change the game for you (since everyone is looking for acquisition as a primary outcome).

Data since regulations has shown that the iGaming market under SPA is being run by increase in player spend, rather than an increase in player numbers overall. 

Therefore, linking loyalty to local fixtures allows you to tap into existing cultural affinity. This means you win on local identity and relatability, while using behaviour that is likely to occur anyway, to drive the same users back to your platform again and again.

Think football, here. An example of the offer you could run is as follows:

“Bet on at least three Brazilian Serie A matches this month. Reach Silver tier and get BRL 200 free bet + priority Pix withdrawals.”

Live Event Flash Boosts

As noted above, microbets and live bets are keeping the sports, esports and other betting markets running. It is what younger demographics prefer too — meaning, it is the betting format of the future.

Now, about 80% of Brazilians do bet on major football events such as world cups or Champions Leagues. Your brand or operation can push the envelope on this further with time-sensitive flash offers or online gambling promotions.

Plus, with live betting come higher margins for businesses, and better hold rates. 

Here’s a suggestion on the kind of offer which could be run in this situation:

“Change your odds in the São Paulo vs Flamengo derby – 50 % boost for the next 30 mins.”

Of course, other sports betting marketing strategies are crucial too, and should be carried out in conjunction.

Free Bets

When users can try out your brand (with zero risk!) affiliates can bring in more registrations and FTDs. The reason is simple: users already know what they’re getting into when they actually deposit real money. 

That’s why the option of using free bet promos is important in new and emerging markets. In Brazil, this online gambling affiliate marketing strategy reduces the barrier to conversion at a very small expense to operators or brands (when compared to the likely outcome).

Here’s an example of the online gambling promotions which can be run through this format:
“Sign up via affiliate link, deposit BRL 50 or more, receive BRL 50 free-bet valid on next Brazil Serie A match.”

Social Share Promos

Since Brazil has such a high mobile usership and adoption rate, social media is a prime way of promoting your iGaming brand. In fact, in this type of promotion, your users become your promoters, saving you both money and campaign running costs.

Here’s a promo suggestion that can be run under this type of advertising:

“Invite a friend; they deposit via Pix with your code, you both get BRL 100 free-bet + BRL 20 referral bonus credited instantly.”

Influencer-led Promotions

In Brazil, influencers have a great deal of power over consumer choices. A Statistica study revealed that a large percentage of Brazilians aged 14+ were heavily influenced by social media creators and celebrities promoting platforms for iGaming.

Your brand or operation, in this case, could reach out and partner with state-level or nationally known figures to build brand awareness and bring users to the platform. In fact, partnering with a personality who aligns with the brand’s personality brings even better results in most industries.

Your online gambling promotions in this case could involve marketing online gambling through social media posts (from a creator) which state something along these lines, with a link to your landing page:

“Hoje à noite no jogo da Libertadores, usa o meu código – primeira aposta sem risco de BRL 100.”

How to Engineer Promos for Conversion

The funnel for ensuring conversions in Brazil relies heavily on funnel optimization, partner alignment and payment details. Let’s understand which key factors can help your business engineer promotions that are more likely to convert.

Payment and Deposit Flow

Of course, prioritizing locally more accepted forms of payment like Pix is a must. But beyond this simple addition, there must be trust-related cues on your gambling landing page which assure the user that your operation is legitimate.

Since Brazil’s regulatory environment has recently turned over a new leaf, users must be reassured that you’re on the right side of the law. This assurance can be provided through the use of badges that show payment security or display registration details.

UX Practices that Work

When planning your online gambling promotions, keep the key information in the first fold so that users — whether on desktop or mobile — don’t miss it. What’s the most crucial information in this case?

• The bonus or promotion details (including disclaimers, if any),
• Branding assets (which define your brand or business),
• The call-to-action button or link,
• Steps to register or play (if they are required), and,
• Urgency triggers to get users to display the required behaviour.

Since the market is fairly new, it is possible in the first instance, your landing page isn’t able to achieve the desired conversion rate. In that case, A/B testing is going to be your best bet.

Tracking for Promos

Every online gambling marketing strategy should come with requisite key performance indicators (KPIs) and mediums to measure them. 

Think of it like this: your players could be coming through a single marketing medium, or may have come across your promotions on various channels. But how do you know which online gambling promotions finally worked? That’s why implementing cross-device tracking or multi-touch attribution in every campaign is crucial.

If you’re running affiliate marketing campaigns, there needs to be postback tracking for accurate, precise data. Additionally, they offer the benefit of real-time tracking, which can help you strengthen the overall effectiveness of your campaigns (as data is available for assessment and improvements can be implemented immediately).

Progressive Onboarding

KYC and AML can be lengthy and interrupt the player journey. You can break down the process into parts so the user doesn’t get held up at once.

Or, you can implement third party tools which make the verification process less time consuming. 

What’s more? You could also let users browse odds or totals before they get registered. This gives them a sneak peek into the next steps and builds anticipation.

Having looked at how online gambling promotions could potentially work in such a market, it is also important to note what has actually worked. To examine this, we’ll observe a few campaigns run by operators in Brazil since the regulations came into force.

What’s Actually Worked in the Brazilian Market?

Case 1: Betano Brazil’s Influencer, Sponsorship Campaign

Sponsorships are a key part of sports events, something seen heavily even in cricket world cups. In this case, Betano used an integrated influencer campaign to shine a light on its sponsorships of Brasileirão and Copa Betano do Brasil, which are football competitions.

They relied heavily on local macro and small football influencers. Each creator used brand-heavy online gambling promotions in the form of codes, within their game commentary and fun fan-related content.

While localization was a key reason behind the campaign’s success, the use of smaller influencers added authenticity to the messaging.

Case 2: Betnacional’s Responsible Gambling Campaign

NSX Group or Betnacional ran a responsible gambling campaign. They used three Olympic athletes to spread the message: Duda, Ana Patrícia, and Bia Souza.

This campaign was the widest in terms of distribution, featuring on television commercials and social media. The end goal was to showcase betting as entertainment and positioning the brand as upholding compliance and responsibility.

Here, the brand faced the added responsibility of falling in line with the transforming advertising rules in the newly regulated market.

Summing Up

New markets offer up the maximum amount of opportunities for brands, operators and networks of all sizes. But the outcome of such instances hinges almost completely on being able to understand and deliver according to local realities.

Your efforts in running good online gambling promotions will be rewarded in Brazil if they deliver on payment UX, creative localization, language modalities and regional sensibilities. In fact, if you’re able to read the market correctly now, you’re in for long-term value. 

In emerging markets, all instances and iterations of digital marketing for online gambling (which come rules of their own) need to be measured properly. Without it, you’re simply going to be walking in the dark. 

Operators and brands that were authorized to operate from the beginning of 2025 have managed to run successful campaigns. Learning from their experiences is crucial in reducing the turnaround time for your success.

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