Brazil’s VLT expansion and hospitality growth

While the National Congress still debates the final details for implementing integrated resort casinos, the operator To All Games executed a strategic move that redefines the concept of “gaming retail” in Brazil.

By signing an agreement with the Institute of Development, Tourism, Culture, Sports and Environment (IDT-CEMA), the company will begin installing Video Lottery Terminals (VLTs) in high-end hotels.

This move, announced during SBC Summit Rio, uses the operational license issued by Loterj (Rio de Janeiro State Lottery) to create a safe and highly technological physical entertainment network.

The To All Games project is not merely a machine expansion.
It is an investment in hospitality gaming infrastructure.

Each terminal is equipped with cybersecurity systems and real-time location monitoring.
Payments are accepted exclusively via Pix.

For the hotel sector, the introduction of these integrated gaming rooms represents a change in the business model.

Lobbies and common areas become auxiliary revenue centers that attract tourists and increase guest stay time.

By bringing gaming into the controlled environment of hotels, To All Games is creating a beneficial “Trojan horse” for tourism.

It proves that the coexistence between regulated entertainment and luxury services is the fastest path to social acceptance of physical gaming in Brazil.

The state as damage manager: SUS telecare through “Meu SUS Digital”

One of the most sensitive and urgent topics of 2026 is the mental health of bettors.

Health Minister Alexandre Padilha brought a harsh financial reality to the public debate.
Online betting generates economic and social losses estimated at Us$7,33 billion per year in Brazil.

To mitigate this impact, the government launched, in partnership with Hospital Sírio-Libanês, an unprecedented telecare service specialized in gambling addiction.

The service is accessible through the Meu SUS Digital app.

Users complete a scientifically validated self-test and, if moderate or high risk is detected, they are automatically referred to video consultations.

This initiative initially foresees 600 monthly consultations with the potential to expand to 100,000.

It is composed of a multidisciplinary team of psychologists, occupational therapists and psychiatrists.

The fact that the Brazilian public health system offers up to 13 free sessions per patient, including support for family members, changes the tone of the conversation around iGaming in Brazil.

For the industry, having support from the public system is not a threat.

It is reputational protection.

A market that offers treatment and centralized self-exclusion is a market that protects itself against image crises and legislative setbacks.

The sustainability of the sector in 2026 depends on this symbiosis between operator profit and the state’s social protection network.

The war against the illegal market: The siege of the remaining 30%

Despite the success of the regulated market, the Secretariat of Prizes and Betting still faces a resilient enemy.

The illegal market still represents around 30% of the total betting volume in Brazil.

In 2025, enforcement actions resulted in the shutdown of more than 25,000 illegal websites.

However, the government knows that IP blocking alone is not enough.

For this reason, the first quarter of 2026 marks the implementation of joint liability for banks and payment institutions.

Following the update of Ordinance 561, financial institutions will be notified and held accountable if they facilitate transactions for operators without an SPA license.

This technical and automated offensive aims to suffocate the financial flow of illegal gambling.

The government strategy is to make clandestine operations so risky and costly that users naturally migrate to authorized platforms.

In addition, strict advertising control in partnership with CONAR and the Digital Council aims to prevent illegal site ads from reaching social networks and influencers.

The focus of 2026 is effective rule enforcement.

The SPA has already announced that it will initiate severe sanctioning processes against any authorized operator that violates consumer protection and anti-money laundering rules.

Football and integrity: The impact of  US$240 million in sponsorships

Brazilian football is undoubtedly the biggest direct beneficiary of regulation.

In 2024, Serie A clubs received approximately US$240 million in sponsorships from betting companies.

This represents about 35% of the sport’s total sponsorship revenue.

Giovanni Rocco highlighted that in 2025 this relationship consolidated with long-term contracts and greater financial predictability for teams.

However, the volume of money requires strict control over sports integrity.

The government created an interministerial working group to formulate the National Policy to Combat Match-Fixing.

More than 500 public security agents have already been trained in techniques for detecting odds fraud and monitoring betting markets.

The idea is for the Ministry of Sports to anticipate prevention strategies through sports intelligence, analyzing suspicious patterns in illegal markets.

Additionally, companies that commercialize predictions and statistical analyses must now obtain an SPA license to operate legally.

This ensures that the data ecosystem surrounding sports is not used to induce error or facilitate corruption schemes. Brazil 2026: The new reality of gaming

The closing of SBC Summit Rio 2026 this Thursday, March 5, is not merely the end of another event on the calendar.

It marks the ground zero of a new era for the betting market in Latin America.

After twelve months of operating under the full regulatory framework that came into force on January 1, 2025, Brazil has stopped being a “promise for the future” and has become the most complex and closely monitored gaming market on the planet.

Data presented this week at the Windsor Convention & Expo Center reveals a market that moved R$68 billion in the past year alone.

This consolidates an industry that now directly reaches 25 million adult Brazilians.

However, what defines March 2026 is not only the transaction volume.

It is the sophistication of the control layers that now involve everything from the financial system through Pix to the public mental health network.

The anatomy of the giant: A 2025 x-ray of the Brazilian market

The Secretariat of Prizes and Betting of the Ministry of Finance (SPA-MF), under the leadership of Daniele Correa Cardoso and Giovanni Rocco, presented a report that serves as a compass for any serious investor.

The Brazilian market proved to be resilient and extremely capillarized.

The c handled generated direct tax revenue of  US$640 million, of which US$160 million was immediately directed to the financing of sports and educational programs.

This financial transparency is the direct result of the SPA’s organizational structure, which operates with the agility of a regulatory agency.

It is divided into subsecretariats for Authorization, Monitoring and Inspection, and Sanctioning Action.

For the first time in history, the Brazilian state fully understands the partners, executives and cash flows of each authorized operator.

This level of visibility made it possible to identify that approximately 11.83% of the country’s adult population placed at least one bet in 2025.

But numerical success brings responsibility for control.

The government implemented mechanisms for cross-checking registries and blocking suspicious transactions in an unprecedented partnership with the Central Bank and the Federal Police.

The goal for 2026 is clear.

To raise compliance to a level where failure to respect deposit limits or communicate risks results in immediate license suspension, ensuring that only the most robust players survive the market’s consolidation phase.

The content offensive: Yggdrasil and the demands of the Brazilian player

Among technology suppliers, the week was dominated by Yggdrasil.

The company announced the massive expansion of its portfolio for operators such as F12, Blaze and Novibet.

The introduction of more than 400 certified titles reflects a behavioral shift among Brazilian bettors in 2026.

The audience is now mature.

Players understand the difference between a low-quality game and a high-fidelity experience with sophisticated retention mechanics.

This “content war” is the operators’ response to high customer acquisition costs.

In a market where advertising is increasingly restricted and expensive, keeping players engaged for longer is the only way to ensure return on investment.

The entry of global providers such as Yggdrasil raises the quality bar.

It forces local operators to invest in more robust, secure and visually appealing platforms, transforming betting into a full entertainment experience.

Regional perspective: The pragmatism of Mexico, Peru and the Chilean model

Outside Brazil, Latin America is also showing important consolidation movements.

In Mexico, Codere Online launched its Poker app for iOS.

This signals that mature markets are seeking diversification through skill-based games to balance seasonal sports betting revenue.

In Peru, Mincetur confirmed that the record tax revenue at the start of 2026 is the direct result of balanced legislation.

The Peruvian model of predictable stability is being used as the main argument in the final discussions in the Chilean Senate.

Chile aims to accelerate its regulation in order not to lose investment to more agile neighbors.

These countries look at Brazil as the “great experiment”.

If Brazil manages to balance the economic success of its US$13.6 billion market with the social support of SUS and the fight against illegal gambling, it will serve as the foundation for future global legislation.

The Chilean pragmatism and Peruvian stability show that Latin America is moving away from being a region of “open frontiers”.

It is becoming an iGaming economic bloc with clear rules and high protection for invested capital.

The birth of the “gaming 360” model

Analyzing the events of this week, it becomes evident that Brazil in 2026 is building a model that could be called “Gaming 360”.

It is an ecosystem where regulation is not seen as an obstacle.

It is the structure necessary for sustainable growth.

The success of To All Games in hotels, the protection network of SUS and the fiscal rigor of SPA-MF are the gears of a machine that generates billions in taxes while protecting citizens and sports.

For professionals working in this market, the challenge of 2026 is adaptability.

It is no longer enough to understand marketing.

It is necessary to understand financial regulation, public health and technological infrastructure.

The Brazilian market stopped being a space for amateurs the moment the first 2024 ordinance was published.

Today, those who survive in Brazil are those capable of combining the profitability of a billion-dollar industry with the ethical responsibility demanded by an increasingly vigilant society.