The archive · Money & Fintech · Strategic decision · 2023–2026
Superbet bets Brazil's betting law turns grey-market chaos into licensed share
Romanian operator Superbet paid the first $30M Brazilian licence, got certified first, and rose from 8th to 3rd as the R$37B regulated market consolidated.
Superbet
What the business is
Superbet is a sports-betting and iGaming operator founded in Romania in 2008, active in 12 countries, that runs federally licensed betting platforms in Brazil under .bet.br domains.
Starting capital：Blackstone's €175M minority investment (2019) funded expansion into 12 countries.
How it started
Superbet was founded in 2008 in Romania, and in 2019 took a €175M minority investment from Blackstone to expand globally. When Brazil sanctioned Lei 14.790/2023, legalizing sports betting and online gaming under federal licences, Superbet entered the country in late 2023 - betting that regulation would shrink the enormous grey market and reward operators that were licensed early.
What happened
In December 2024 Superbet became the first company to buy Brazil's $30M federal licence, and on December 10 its platform was certified by eCOGRA, the London test lab accredited by Brazil's government. It sponsored São Paulo and Fluminense football clubs, Lollapalooza and Rock in Rio. The regulated market went live on January 1, 2025 with a 12% tax on gross revenue; through 2025 licensed brands grew from about 120 to 157 while unlicensed top-100 brands fell from 38 to 11 as Anatel blocked illegal sites.
How it ended up
Scaling: by February 2026 Superbet was the third most-attended betting brand in Brazil, with 8.49% brand-attention share, more than double its January 2025 level. Its CEO cites 2025 sector revenue of R$37B and R$9.95B in federal tax as proof the regulated model works.
Background
Superbet is a Romanian sports-betting and iGaming operator, founded in 2008 and backed by a €175M Blackstone investment in 2019, that entered Brazil in late 2023 as the country prepared to legalize and licence betting. Its bet: Brazil's Lei 14.790/2023 would consolidate a huge grey market around licensed international operators, so it paid the first $30M federal licence, earned one of the first certifications, and built a local brand before the market opened.
The regulated market went live on January 1, 2025, with a 12% tax on gross gaming revenue and federal monitoring. During 2025 the number of authorized brands grew from about 120 to 157, while unlicensed brands in the top 100 by audience attention fell from 38 to 11 as telecoms regulator Anatel blocked roughly 25,000 illegal sites. SPA-MF data reported by Poder360 put 2025 gross betting revenue at R$37B, with R$9.95B collected in federal taxes and 25.2M Brazilians betting legally.
Superbet moved early on the formalities - first to buy the $30M licence and certified by eCOGRA on December 10, 2024 - and spent on visibility: sponsorships of São Paulo and Fluminense, Lollapalooza and Rock in Rio, plus an AI football game that drew 6M YouTube views. Blask market data shows it rising from 8th place at 3.94% brand-attention share in January 2025 to 3rd at 8.49% by February 2026, more than doubling.
The company pairs growth claims with responsible-gambling messaging: a partnership with player-protection institute IPJ, 24-hour support, and CEO Alexandre Fonseca publicly urging bettors to use only .bet.br platforms. Gambling carries real harm; Superbet's own case is that licensing and enforcement at least make the market visible and auditable.
What has to be true
- It bet the direction of regulation - that Brazil would licence rather than ban betting - and positioned itself before the market opened.
- It treated licensing as a race: first to buy the $30M licence and among the first certified, which became marketable proof of safety as enforcement squeezed out unlicensed brands.
- It built local brand equity through football sponsorships and events rather than price-led acquisition, which paid off as attention consolidated among a few licensed operators.
- Concrete, dated evidence supports every claim: eCOGRA (2025-02-07), Times Brasil (2025-04-23), Poder360 (2026-01-22), and Blask data in iGamingFuture (2026-03-31).
What can be applied
When a grey market gets regulated, being first through the paperwork turns compliance into market share: licence, certification and local branding compound as enforcement removes unlicensed rivals.
Aftermath
As of September 2, 2026, Superbet is Brazil's third-ranked betting brand by attention (8.49% BAP, Blask data), with 2025 sector revenue of R$37B and over 25M legal bettors. The regulatory regime is tightening further: the GGR tax rises from 12% to 13% in 2026, then to 15% by 2028, and enforcement against unlicensed sites continues. Superbet's CEO is publicly advocating the licensed model and warning players away from unregulated platforms, positioning the company as the safe, compliant incumbent as the market matures.
Sources
- Superbet Platform Certified With eCOGRA
- 'A regulamentação do setor trouxe novas oportunidades de crescimento', diz CMO da Superbet Brasil
- Bets tiveram receita de R$ 37 bilhões em 2025
- The Changing Shape of Brazil: How Regulation Reshuffled The Market
- Direto de Lisboa: 'Não se iludam com promessas de ganhos fáceis', alerta CEO da Superbet sobre apostas
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