A World Cup fever is sweeping Brazil. So is sports betting. NPR’s Julia Carneiro reports on the country’s gambling boom and the growing concerns about debt and addiction.
ADRIAN FLORIDO, HOST:
U.S. fans celebrated last night after the Americans won their first game of the 2026 World Cup 4 to 1 against Paraguay. And in Brazil, the green and yellow is everywhere as fans gear up for their team’s kickoff in the World Cup tonight. But there’s another fever taking hold of Brazilians, too, and the World Cup may be fuel for an online betting boom. Julia Carneiro reports from Rio de Janeiro.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: Ah (non-English language spoken).
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JULIA CARNEIRO: I’ve come to Copacabana, where bars are packed with people watching the Brazil-Panama friendly match. Fans are drinking beers, caipirinhas, having steak with fries, including a group of 18-year-olds all wearing soccer jerseys and holding up their phones. Are they just watching the match, or are they placing bets, too?
GIAN LUCCA PETIT: No, I used to bet some time ago, but I stopped because I used to get my parlays wrong.
CARNEIRO: Gian Lucca Petit is here with former classmates. At 18, they finally hit the legal age to place a bet.
PETIT: It used to be fun because I think that the houses that you bet on try to make the bet as fun as possible. So people put their money – oh.
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PETIT: It was a Brazil goal right now scored by Danilo. But I stopped because I don’t have a lot of money to bet, so I stopped.
CARNEIRO: Petit stopped, but more and more Brazilians keep going.
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UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: (Non-English language spoken).
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #3: (Non-English language spoken).
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CARNEIRO: Betting ads tapping into Brazil’s passion for soccer are now everywhere from TV and social media to bus stops, stadiums, concerts and even carnival. Casinos were banned in Brazil in 1946, but online betting was legalized in 2018 and came under full government regulation last year with licensed platforms now monitored for fair play and secure transactions. That shift fueled a boom. Brazil is now one of the world’s largest gambling markets, generating an estimated $7 billion a year, according to government and industry figures.
ED BIRKIN: People took a look and said, hang on, Brazil is not a country. It’s pretty much a continent, so we’re looking at 170 million adults.
CARNEIRO: Ed Birkin, managing director of H2 Gambling Capital, a betting and gaming consultancy, says these numbers lured foreign firms.
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CARNEIRO: Betting companies have expanded rapidly. They sponsor Brazil’s biggest football clubs and use stars like Neymar and Vinicius Jr. as poster figures. Birkin says Brazilian football now depends on the industry.
BIRKIN: If you got rid of football sponsorship now and marketing around football, almost every single team in the league would be in dire financial trouble.
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UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #5: (Non-English language spoken).
CARNEIRO: But this boom comes at a huge social cost and brings debt and despair to millions of families, as this campaign by famous Brazilian artists highlights.
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PRESIDENT LUIZ INACIO LULA DA SILVA: (Non-English language spoken).
CARNEIRO: In a recent interview, President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said, quote, “if it’s up to me, we close the bets,” calling them a massive tragedy. The government launched a mental health service to treat gambling addiction and a platform where Brazilians can voluntarily block their betting accounts. With the World Cup, though, it’s primetime for betting.
DAVID NEMER: I think the 2026 World Cup will be the biggest betting event in Brazilian history.
CARNEIRO: David Nemer, an associate professor of media studies at the University of Virginia, says gambling has hijacked Brazil’s passion for soccer.
NEVER: The World Cup already generates enormous emotional engagement, and when you combine that with smartphones, betting apps and aggressive advertising, you create a perfect environment for betting companies.
CARNEIRO: Nemer is writing a book about the impact of online gambling on low-income Brazilians.
NEVER: In my research, the families who were betting on these apps, they were after extra income, you know, so they could pay the bills at the end of the month.
CARNEIRO: That, Nemer says, is the main difference between digital gambling in Brazil and the U.S., the world’s biggest betting market.
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UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #6: (Non-English language spoken).
CARNEIRO: “Compulsive gambling is a disease,” says this Gamblers Anonymous advertisement. The organization is helping Brazilians who can’t stop betting, and demand for its services has surged over the past two years.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #7: (Non-English language spoken).
CARNEIRO: One member spoke to us on condition of anonymity, citing shame and saying that most people in his circle don’t know about this. He used to bet on sports around the clock. He lost over $30,000, his car and fell deep into debt. He says he quit after his wife found out, and he began therapy, but recently, he relapsed. He was a lifelong soccer fan, but now he can’t bear to watch any of the World Cup matches.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #7: (Non-English language spoken).
CARNEIRO: “It’s become a trauma,” he says. “Betting ads are everywhere, and even though they say play responsibly, this will be the height of their gains and the ruin of many families.”
For NPR News, I’m Julia Carneiro in Rio de Janeiro.
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