For the first time, the iGaming market has more sectoral data available. This brought a clearer statistical reading than what existed before 2025. Anyone who needs to create an account on the betting platform today finds an environment very different from that which existed two years ago.
The volume of data published in recent months allows us to create a statistical portrait of the sector based on real numbers and not on consultancy estimates. For those who work in iGaming or follow the industry with professional interest, the following indicators form an accurate portrait of the market in the first half of 2026.
1. More than 50 million registered accounts
The number of accounts registered on online gaming platforms surpassed the 50 million mark, data collected by BNLData. The conversion rate from casual players to recurring assets is around 40%, which suggests an active base of approximately 20 million regular bettors. If you think in terms of penetration, this means that practically one in four Brazilian adults with internet access has an account with some operator.
This number gains perspective when compared to the volume of active users recorded in the first half of 2025 in sectoral surveys. The difference indicates that the second half of 2025 and the first months of 2026 brought a significant wave of new registrations, probably driven by the platforms’ greater visibility in sports sponsorships and digital campaigns. The registration processes have also become more structured, with account verifications and identification steps that help to better organize the user base.
2. Demographic profile diversifies beyond the male audience
Sectoral surveys for the first half of 2025 showed that 71% of bettors were men and 29% women. BNLData points out that the 35 to 54 age group already represents 38% of active users on online gaming platforms, which directly challenges the perception that the sector exclusively serves a male audience.
Distribution by age group and social class
The largest concentration is in the 25 to 44 age group, which accounts for almost 70% of the total. Classes B and C emerged as the main driver of growth, driven by ease of access via Pix and the availability of options with reduced entry prices. Minimum deposits of R$1 to R$5 are available from several operators, which drastically reduces the financial barrier to entry.
If you observe demographic evolution carefully, you will notice that the female audience is growing faster in percentage terms than the male audience, a trend that is especially visible in the online bingo and digital casino gaming segments.
3. Football dominates 85.7% of prediction volume
No surprises here. Football accounts for 85.7% of the gross volume of sports predictions, according to data compiled by the sector’s main associations. The Brasileirão Série A is the championship with the largest volume of markets, followed by Libertadores, Premier League and Champions League.
What changes in 2026 is the sophistication of the markets offered. It is no longer enough to guess at the end result. Corners, cards, shots on goal, substitutions and even VAR interventions have become market categories for operators seeking differentiation. The diversity of markets within a single football match has significantly expanded the average ticket per event, because the bettor who previously made one prediction per game now makes three or four on different markets for the same match.
For those of you who follow the industry, the concentration on football brings a structural risk that few discuss. When the season goes on pause, volume drops dramatically. Operators that depend exclusively on the football calendar suffer predictable drops in revenue between seasons, which is why diversification into eSports and casino games has become a strategic priority.
4. eSports and Crash Games advance in market share
While football dominates the absolute volume, the categories with the highest relative growth rate are eSports and so-called crash games. CS2, League of Legends, Valorant and Dota 2 concentrate most of the volume of predictions in eSports, with an audience predominantly in their 30s. Sector reports also show that the segment is already receiving closer monitoring from data and sports integrity companies, a reflection of the increase in volume and professionalization of competitions.
The phenomenon of Crash Games
Crash games, popularly known as the little plane game, have become a Brazilian phenomenon. The mechanics are simple. The multiplier rises, the player decides when to leave, and the game can end at any time. This simplicity, combined with quick rounds and low entry values, attracted a player profile that does not identify with traditional sports markets.
If you are in the sector, you have probably already noticed that crash games represent one of the growth fronts for operators that want to expand their base beyond the sports audience. The segment does not depend on the sports calendar, operates 24 hours a day and has a shorter average session time, which allows for multiple sessions per day.
5. Online bingo grows 35% with a majority female audience
Few people outside the industry follow this data. Online bingo recorded a 35% increase in the number of active players between 2025 and 2026, with more than 60% of the base made up of women. The average ticket per session is lower than in sports predictions, but the frequency of play more than makes up for it, resulting in a competitive lifetime value.
Bingo platforms have invested in variants of the classic game that attract both nostalgic players and new users with no prior experience. The segment represents the biggest driver of demographic diversification in the Brazilian iGaming market and probably the category least covered by the specialized press.
For operators who want to reduce dependence on the male audience aged 25 to 35, online bingo is the most direct answer the market offers today. The acquisition cost per player in the segment tends to be lower than in sports betting, and retention is higher due to the social component of multiplayer bingo rooms.
6. North and Northeast lead in percentage growth
São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro concentrate the largest absolute volume of players, but the North and Northeast regions have the highest percentage growth rates, according to a survey by BNLData.
The accelerated expansion of mobile internet access in these regions also helps explain why many users first access registration, bonus rules and basic account controls via cell phone.
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The combination of recent access to quality internet and the popularization of Pix as a payment method reduced two barriers that traditionally kept these regions off the operators’ radar. The phenomenon is not exclusive to iGaming. It repeats patterns observed in fintech and e-commerce, sectors that have also experienced leaps in adoption in these same regions in the last three years.
7. Sports sponsorships generate R$1.1 billion per year
The sector injects around R$1.1 billion per year just into master shares of football clubs in series A and B. This number makes online betting operators the largest sponsoring bloc of Brazilian football, surpassing banks and telecommunications companies.
The concentration of sponsorships in football is consistent with the dominance of the sport in the volume of markets offered. Large and medium-sized clubs currently depend on this revenue to balance salaries and invest in infrastructure. If you follow the market, you have already noticed that the visibility generated by sponsorships works as a driver for acquiring new registrations. The brand on the team’s shirt, seen by millions of fans during live broadcasts, generates recognition that facilitates conversion.
Access to user accounts with operators that sponsor clubs tends to be facilitated by brand familiarity, and conversion data indicates that campaigns linked to sporting events generate measurable spikes in new registrations. The effect is stronger in weeks of classics and championship decisions, when brand exposure reaches record audiences.
8. More than 10 thousand direct jobs in the sector
iGaming already employs more than 10,000 people directly in high-skilled roles, including developers, data analysts, odds traders, product teams and customer support. The industry’s complete value chain extends into specialized software development, performance marketing, payment processing and operational consulting.
BiS SiGMA South America 2026, held in April in São Paulo, attracted 15,800 participants, given that it scales the professional market across the industry. More than 50 panels with 250 speakers discussed topics ranging from digital operations to data technology. The demand for qualified professionals is growing faster than the supply, especially in areas of cybersecurity, data analysis and technical operations, where internal standards and product audits require specialized knowledge that few companies can maintain in-house.
If you work in the sector, you know that finding a KYC/AML specialist with experience in the Brazilian market has become one of the most difficult hires to make. The same goes for odds traders fluent in Brazilian football markets, a profile that international operators aggressively compete for with salaries above the technology market average.
What the numbers indicate for the second half of the year
The first half of 2026 consolidated trends that were already visible at the end of 2025, but now with verifiable numbers. GGR continues to rise, the user base diversifies demographically, and the online bingo and eSports segments are gaining ground at a pace that the sports market cannot keep up with in percentage terms.
Three indicators to monitor until December
- The growth of the female base and the audience over 35 is the clearest indicator of market maturation, and any slowdown in this range raises alarms about saturation of the traditional audience.
- The 40% conversion rate from casuals to recurring assets is the number that matters most for operators evaluating the acquisition cost and lifetime value of players
The second round of the Brasileirão and its impact
The Brazilian football calendar has a disproportionate weight on the volume of markets. The second semester concentrates the decisive phases of the Brasileirão, Libertadores and the World Cup, which historically generates peaks in the volume of predictions and GGR. If you work with revenue forecasting for operators, the second half of the year is where the curve rises, and data from the first half of the year serves as a basis for projections adjusted for sports seasonality.
The Brazilian iGaming market has gone from the euphoric phase to the operational phase. Data from the first half of the year confirms a sector that is growing on a solid basis, diversifying its audience and generating measurable economic activity. The second half of the year will test the sustainability of this growth in an environment where competition for the bettor’s attention and wallet only increases.
