ANJL President Says Online Betting Is Not Responsible for Brazil’s Retail Challenges

This discussion heated up even further as the retail representatives noted that the online betting companies are taking billions of reais out of people’s pockets. In a recent article, Plinio Lemos Jorge, who is the President of the National Association of Games and Lotteries (ANJL), noted that regulated betting is not what causes the problems that Brazil’s retail is facing at the moment.

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It should be mentioned that this discussion occurred because of the results of Strategy & Brasil’s research that was conducted for the Think Tank Retail Institute and that said that online betting could be taking up to R$50 billion away from retail sales annually.

However, Jorge refutes this statement, noting that such calculations can be incorrect as they compare the whole betting volume with the profit made by the operators. According to him, thinking about the whole betting volume as the money that is permanently taken out of the economy gives an inaccurate picture of the industry’s effect on the economy.

Net Spending Figures Provide Another Picture

According to his statements, Jorge used the results of research conducted by LCA Consultoria using public data, which says that the average net spending per bettor is R$122.

Even considering the necessity of responsible gambling policies, Jorge still says that the fact that the net spending figure is so low does not mean that online betting takes away billions of reais from retail sales.

According to the ANJL president, the retail sector does not lose its clients to the betting platforms. Instead, according to him, consumers change their purchasing habits over the years as shopping migrates into the digital space.

According to him, “Retail has been losing ground to digital markets. Blaming the regulated fixed-odds betting sector means ignoring the issues that the retail sector is facing.”

Growth of E-Commerce and Decline of Traditional Commerce

Moreover, in his opinion, the author compared the performance of traditional retail and e-commerce that has developed rapidly in Brazil.

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According to the numbers provided by Jorge, the sales of traditional retail have grown less than 2% during 2025, while online sales saw double-digit growth according to GetNet’s data. The fastest-growing categories are clothes, whose sales increased by 39%, and cosmetics, whose sales increased by 20%.

Also, he cites the 4th quarter 2025 Mercado Livre report, which recorded 95 sales per second.

According to Jorge, these figures show the structural change in consumer behavior in Brazil rather than their migration towards the betting platforms. According to his estimation, online betting takes up less than 1% of household expenses and, therefore, cannot be the reason for the difficulties that retail faces.

Economic Indicators and Consumer Debt

Furthermore, in his article, Jorge raises the question of the measurement of retail activity in Brazil. As he states, the methods currently used, including the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics’ (IBGE) Monthly Retail Survey (PMC), have been created with traditional commerce in mind and fail to take into account the rapid development of digital marketplaces.

In his opinion, “We are measuring a new economy with old measuring tools.”

The article also touches upon the issue of consumer debt in Brazil. In his opinion, it depends more on the fact that Brazilian households depend on credit rather than on betting.

According to Jorge, the reasons for the growth of household debts include installment purchasing and high interest rates on revolving credits. Concluding his argument, Jorge said, “Betting is not the source of household debt. Brazilians have simply changed the way they shop and remain heavily dependent on credit.”

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Source: iGaming Brasil