Brazil’s entry into regulated online betting has placed it on track to become one of the world’s fastest-growing iGaming markets. Industry forecasts project gross gaming revenue of between $3 billion and $4 billion by 2028, positioning the country as the largest regulated market in Latin America and a top-ten player globally.
Against this backdrop, Nexus International has established a regional hub in São Paulo, anchoring its Latin American operations in the city’s financial and technological center. The move comes as Brazil accelerates licensing under its newly formalized framework, attracting both regional operators and global heavyweights.
For gaming groups, Brazil’s attraction lies in a unique combination of scale and speed. The country’s sports betting framework, first drafted in 2018 and finalized in 2023, has quickly translated into licensing momentum. Analysts point to a large digitally connected population, a deep sports culture, particularly football, and a rapidly expanding payments infrastructure. Together, these factors create a market where first licensees can secure a meaningful share before competition intensifies.
Unlike other emerging regions where regulatory progress has been uneven, Brazil’s coordinated approach has drawn early capital inflows. With legislation advancing and consumer demand already visible, the country offers conditions rarely aligned in new markets: scale, connectivity, and regulatory clarity.
Nexus’s choice of São Paulo reflects both practical and symbolic considerations. The city is not only Brazil’s economic hub but also a center for fintech, media, and payment innovation, all sectors integral to online gaming. Locating its hub there gives Nexus direct access to regulators, technology partners, and one of the largest consumer markets in the Southern Hemisphere.
The office will serve dual functions: as a base for Brazil and as a launchpad for broader Latin American coverage. Neighboring markets, including Chile, Peru, and Colombia, already operate regulated frameworks, and São Paulo’s infrastructure offers a platform for cross-border operations.
Brazil is emerging as a test market for contrasting operator strategies. Global incumbents such as Flutter Entertainment and Entain are positioning through acquisitions and joint ventures, while regional specialists focus on localized content and payment familiarity. Nexus aims to combine the two, deploying localized offerings underpinned by centralized technology.
The company’s brands, Spartans.com and Megaposta among them, will lead its push in Brazil. Spartans.com has expanded to over 5,900 games, with crypto and fiat payment options, while Megaposta has already shown traction under Brazil’s early licensing. This hybrid approach, global infrastructure paired with local resonance, mirrors Nexus’s wider model across more than 40 markets.
The São Paulo expansion comes at a moment of scale for Nexus. The operator reported $546 million in revenue for the first half of 2025, surpassing its entire 2024 total of $400 million. That trajectory places the company within the world’s top 100 gaming operators by revenue, with full-year guidance between $1.1 billion and $1.2 billion, and a year-end target of $1.54 billion.
Industry observers note that Nexus has reached this position without external capital, private equity, or a public listing, an unusual feat in a sector often reliant on large fundraising rounds. Its privately financed model has allowed for fast execution, but also concentrates strategic responsibility with founder and CEO Gurhan Kiziloz.
Brazil’s regulatory pathway is still developing, particularly around online casino content, which remains under legislative review. If approved, the total addressable market could expand well beyond sports betting, giving operators with multi-product portfolios an additional advantage.
Competition will be intense. Early entrants will face heavy brand spend, advertising battles, and consumer promotions. Yet parallels with markets such as Spain and Italy suggest that early leaders often retain a disproportionate share of market revenue years after regulation stabilizes, provided they sustain compliance and innovation.
For Nexus, the São Paulo hub signals both confidence and intent. It underlines a commitment to Brazil’s regulatory framework, positions the company for regional expansion, and supports its ambition to scale from a top-100 entrant toward the industry’s upper tier. With market size, timing, and operational readiness aligned, Brazil is set to become one of Nexus’s most important markets in the decade ahead.
