Brazil’s ban on online fixed-odds betting is affecting thousands of workers, with former employees reporting difficulties finding new jobs and facing prejudice from employers outside the industry.
Renan Fellipe worked for a betting company in Recife, earning BR2,100 a month, when the ban came along on September 25. The company subsequently dismissed around 50 employees, according to Fellipe, accounting for nearly its entire workforce.
“I’m not afraid of working; I’m afraid of being left idle,” he said.
Figures from the National Association of Games and Lotteries (ANJL) indicate that more than 3,500 people have been laid off since the measure was published. The figure represents 23% of an estimated workforce of 15,000, including contractors and suppliers.
The Association of Women in the Gaming Industry (AMIG) has independently identified approximately 730 dismissals by name from at least 36 of the 188 betting brands. Its founder, Natalia Nogues, reminded that each figure represented a worker’s career and often an entire family.
Betano and Superbet have retained their employees for now, citing the difficulty of replacing staff if the market resumes operations. However, a call center supplier serving Betano in Curitiba dismissed 500 workers, while marketing agency Alob Sports, which handled activations for Flamengo, made 34 cuts, according to Brazilian reports..
The sector had offered comparatively high salaries. A study estimated average monthly pay at BR7,000 in 2025.
Former marketing coordinator Thaís Policarpo Vellardi said she had applied for more than 50 jobs in two weeks and secured only one interview, which involved a significant salary reduction.
“I feel that the traditional market is very prejudiced against people who worked in betting. We are scarlet-lettered,” she said.
According to ANJL, another 4,167 workers are on collective leave, while the association projects that layoffs could reach 5,600 within 90 days
