The online sports betting industry faces a period of greater attention in Brazil. The CPI of Sports Betting, established in the Senate, has gained prominence again after the testimony of influencer Virginia Fonseca, who has a wide presence in social networks, with more than 53 million followers, and maintains contracts with companies in the sector. According to a survey of the Excavator, legaltech specialized in the organization of public legal data, 6,575 lawsuits related to sports betting in Brazil were registered between 2023 and 2025.
The cases range from claims for damages and material damages to accusations of abusive practices, revealing a worrying scenario in a sector that moves billions of reais and is driven by digital influencers, athletes and aggressive advertising campaigns. Even with the legalization of bets in 2023, the numbers reveal that the judicialization of the sector grows at a rapid pace. Some of the main platforms operating in Brazil accumulate hundreds of lawsuits, such as Bet365 Lotteries of Brazil, with 326 lawsuits as defendant, and Betano (Kaizen Gaming Brasil Ltda), with 172 records, both related to financial, mostly, damages and moral rights.
The data analyzed by the Excavator are public and exclude processes in secret of justice. According to the platform, the number of actions that hold digital influencers responsible for alleged co-authorship in harmful practices to consumers is increasing. An emblematic example involves the influencer Virginia Fonseca, who, in addition to being heard by the CPI of Sports Betting, is one of the defendants in an action filed by an individual. The process also includes several bookmakers and the influencer Deolane Bezerra. The author of the action seeks the restitution of R$ 322.750,00,00,010,0,00,0010,00.20.2010.T10.20.
In this context, in view of Dalila Pinheiro, legal analyst and DPO of Escavador, he evaluates: “Today, one of the main risks of betting platforms is no longer in illegality, but in the way addiction is promoted under the appearance of entertainment. Many young people end up entering a cycle of compulsiveness and indebtedness, believing that they are investing, when in reality they are just betting.” According to ANBIMA data, more than 4 million Brazilians believe that sports betting is a form of investment.
