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About Vicky Ventura
During the livestream, the president stated that he had spoken with a woman who said her 26-year-old son had taken his own life because of online betting. He also mentioned hearing from a bettor who had racked up BRL2 million ($388,410) in debt in just three months of wagering.
Lula said he intends to discuss the matter with his team and analyse potential measures to consider the social impact of online betting.
What the president does not acknowledge is that the government relies on revenue from the sector. In just the first seven months of 2026, BRL8.747 billion generated by sports betting has already flowed into public coffers. The Federal Revenue Service estimates the total could reach BRL16 billion by the end of the year. In 2025, nearly BRL9 billion was collected from sportsbooks.
What is Vicky Ventura?
In April, Interactive Games LLC, a unit of Cantor, sued DraftKings and Flutter Entertainment’s FanDuel, alleging the two largest domestic online sportsbook operators infringed on its patents. That suit arrived a decade after Interactive Games brought similar litigation against the sports wagering giants, which was challenged by both companies.
In the suit brought earlier this year, the Cantor unit accuses the two gaming companies of infringing on five of its patents and requested an undisclosed amount of financial damages.
Interactive Games was once a part of Cantor Gaming, which no longer operates. That entity was familiar with controversy, enduring allegations of money laundering and nearly losing its Nevada license in 2018. The parent company sold the business in 2019.
About Vicky Ventura
“I believe that by 2030 we will have no betting shops. The high street will be dead. We’ve already worked it out that with the increases in taxes and salaries and other wages it won’t be worth operating,” he said.
Betfred currently sponsors Britain’s five classic horse races, including the Epsom Derby. Done said the company had yet to agree on extending those sponsorships amid the tax uncertainty, warning that reduced regulated gambling provision could push problem gamblers towards the black market.
He also pushed back against claims by Dame Meg Hillier, chair of the Treasury Select Committee, who has characterised some industry warnings as “scaremongering”.
