SPA blocks Betfred and other famous names in Brazil
After the official announcement to get rid of illegal operators, Brazil’s Secretariat of Prizes and Bets (SPA) has blocked 2,040 illegal websites.
Brazil set a deadline for companies to apply for federal betting licenses in Brazil till 11:59 PM on September 30, simply till October 1. This followed the introduction of Normative Ordinance No. 1,475, which announced that only currently operating companies will be able to keep their presence in Brazil.
As a result, on October 10, SPA ordered to block 2040 websites.
Secretary of Prizes and Bets’ Regis Dudena stated:
“This is a very important first step that will be further developed and will involve ongoing action by both the SPA and other government agencies to protect gamblers and the economy. Companies that are operating are jointly responsible for their actions. Even those on the current positive list are also being analyzed and all their behavior will be taken into consideration until the final decision on the final authorization.”
There are many famous European names on the list submitted by the SPA.
The blocked websites are:
- Betclic.com
- Betfred.com
- Bethard.com
- Betsafe.com
- Boylesports.com
- Marathonbet.com
- Flutter’s Paddypower.com
- Entain’s Bwin.com, Partypoker.com, and Ladbrokes.com bran
- Sunbingo.co.uk
- Tabcorp.com.au
This list, however, doesn’t provide details on whether these companies are waiting to receive their licenses, which they didn’t receive because of not meeting the requirements, or whether they just decided to exit the Brazilian regulated market. For example, Flutter will operate in Brazil with its Betfair brand, which it recently acquired from Betnacional. And Entain applied for a license under its sports betting brand.
Blocked websites still have a chance to apply for licenses; however, it might take 180 days for the licenses to be reviewed. Only those operators who applied till August 31 will be operating in Brazil starting January 1, 2025.