THE Caixa Econômica Federal raised R$11.6 billion from lotteries in the first half of 2025, a drop of 6% compared to the same period last year, when the value reached R$12.3 billion. If the pace continues, this will be the first year without growth in revenue since 2018. The data is contained in reports from the state bank.
The reduction occurs amid the start of the regulated sports betting market in the country and a judicial offensive by Caixa against online lottery sites. According to the bank, the weaker performance is mainly due to the lower number of premiums accumulated this year.
“Caixa Loterias closely monitors the dynamics of the sector and the market movements that impact its business lines. The performance in the first half of 2025 was due in particular to the lower number of prizes accumulated this year compared to the same period in 2024. This behavior did not continue in subsequent months, which will be disclosed in due course, in the next Caixa Loterias Management Report.”
Fall interrupts sequence of rises
Since 2018, Caixa’s lottery revenue has been on a growth trajectory. To maintain the pace of recent years, the result for the first half of the year would need to rise by at least 23% — which never occurred in the period.
Annual revenue from Caixa lotteries:
2018 – R$13.8 billion;
2019 – R$16.7 billion;
2020 – R$17.1 billion;
2021 – R$18.5 billion;
2022 – R$23.2 billion;
2023 – R$ 23.4 billion; 2024 – R$ 25.9 billion.
The drop in revenue is directly reflected in the volume of social transfers, which correspond to 47% of game revenue. In the first half of 2025, R$5.46 billion was allocated to sports, education and social security programs, a decrease of 8.2% compared to the same period of the previous year.
Betting market and Lula Government
After the sanction of Law No. 14,790, of 2023, which regulated the sports betting market, a process of adapting and implementing the new rules in the country began. As of January 2025, the regulated betting market began to officially operate in Brazil. Among the measures, betting houses licensed by the federal government began to operate on websites with the “.bet.br” domain and comply with standards to combat fraud, money laundering and abusive advertising.
In search of new markets, the Caixa started the authorization process to operate sports betting and online games with the Secretariat of Prizes and Bets of the Ministry of Finance (SPA-MF), the body responsible for accrediting and supervising companies in the sector in the country.
Caixa was authorized by SPA to operate bets definitively, on July 30th, through Caixa Loterias SA With the license, Caixa will be able to operate through the BetCaixa, MegaBet and Xbet Caixa brands.
In an interview with The Globe in October, the bank president, Carlos Vieirastated that Caixa’s expected revenue from betting is R$2 billion to R$2.5 billion next year.
The bank’s entry into the betting market caused irritation among members of the government and President Lula (PT) himself. The news about the launch of a Caixa betting platform came amid the government’s campaign to increase taxation on “billionaires, banks and bets” — the so-called “BBB Taxation”.
Lula is expected to meet this week with the president of Caixa to discuss the issue. The bank planned to announce the betting platform later this year.
Dispute with lottery sites
Caixa has also been involved in legal disputes against platforms that mediate lottery bets. In September, the São Paulo Court closed an investigation opened at the bank’s request, which investigated crimes against the popular economy and the exploitation of gambling. The Public Ministry and the Civil Police concluded that there were no signs of irregularities.
These sites act as intermediaries, registering bets directly with lotteries on behalf of customers. According to a study by Fundação Getulio Vargas (FGV), published in 2022, online prize pools increased Caixa’s revenue by an average of R$556 million per year.
Fonte: Gaming365 – Brasil
