With the World Cup having started in Q2, there were encouraging quarters for online gambling operators across Latin America, including Betsson and Codere Online, but Brazil continued to prove challenging amid heightened competition and regulatory uncertainty.
iGB takes a closer look at how operators performed in the LatAm region across Q2.
Brazil environment remains challenging for Flutter
While revenue in Brazil grew 64% year-on-year to $72 million for Flutter Entertainment in Q2, the real story was market softness and a 14% drop in organic revenue.
The 64% increase was driven by its acquisition of Betnacional, which was completed midway through Q2 2025, hence the favourable year-on-year comparison.
Despite the company making “good operational progress” in Q2, Flutter referenced overall market softness and the Brazilian government’s socio-economic measures as the main factors behind an underwhelming performance in the market.
However, the company stated it still views Brazil as a “highly attractive growth market” and vowed to build a market-leading platform.
Flutter CFO Rob Coldrake reiterated this confidence on the post-Q2 earnings call, highlighting the company’s product and pricing capabilities and the rollout of its bet-builder product.
“We’re still really excited about our potential in this market,” he said. “We’re feeling quite confident about our product and how we set up into [20]27.
“There is quite a moving piece with regards to the regulatory backdrop in Brazil, and that’s somewhat stifling the overall market growth. But within the context of that market, I think we’re happy with our performance, and we’re still encouraged about the medium to long-term opportunity there.”
Entain ‘invests wisely’ in Brazil
Like Flutter, Entain also suffered in Brazil during its H1 with NGR (net gaming revenue) down 25% on a constant currency basis, reflecting a “highly adverse” sports margin in Q1.
Entain CEO Stella David said the operator did maintain its share of the market during the quarter, despite challenging factors, by improving various player metrics, as sports wagers increased 10% across the first half of 2026.
As sports margins normalised, Entain’s performance through its Sportingbet brand in Brazil also improved quarter-on-quarter.
On the post-earnings call, CFO Michael Snape described the Brazilian market as “incredibly difficult and unpredictable”.
He said Entain was deliberately avoiding a spending race in Brazil, stating: “In Brazil, I’d say we very much hope that we’ll see some recovery in the second half.
“We think the team are doing the right thing. We are very focused on maintaining the proper contribution that Brazil gives us, as opposed to just trying to drive for a top line, but we want to build a sustainable business there.
“And so we will compete, but we won’t compete at any cost. We will make sure that we invest really wisely.”
CEO Stella David echoed Snape’s sentiment, explaining Entain was taking a “disciplined approach to profitability” in Brazil.
LatAm becomes Betsson’s biggest region in Q2
Betsson’s LatAm focus continues to pay off with the region becoming its largest in Q2, accounting for 36% of its total revenue for the quarter.
Its €112.1 million in LatAm revenue marked a 32.3% year-on-year rise, driven by all-time high revenue in Argentina, Peru and Colombia.
Speaking to iGB post-Q2 group CEO Pontus Lindwall said the company had aimed for LatAm to take over as its largest market. “We see more structural growth to come from LatAm than from, let’s say, Western Europe.”
Lindwall also noted that while the World Cup provided an additional boost in Q2, underlying growth was the real story.
“Of course, it’s impacted by the Fifa World Cup,” he explained on the earnings call. “But then again, [the] World Cup is only around 20 days of the quarter.
“So it has an impact, but it’s also the underlying growth that we have in the region from the efforts that we made and from the product development that we do. And as we usually say, these big tournaments, they have a bigger impact on customer intake than on the revenues as such.”
Further LatAm expansion could be on the cards, too, with Lindwall outlining there was “more potential and more possibilities” for Betsson in the region.
Mexico remains Codere Online’s largest market
Codere Online CEO Aviv Sher described Mexico as a “key contributor to both growth and profitability” as it was again the company’s biggest market in Q2, ahead of its home nation of Spain.
Codere Online generated €36.1 million in NGR from Mexico during Q2, a 24% year-on-year rise, and Sher vowed to continue investing in the market, saying: “We cannot ignore the competitive environment. It is getting crowded and they are heavy spenders over there.”
There were positives in LatAm beyond Mexico, too, with its “other” geographical segment, comprising Argentina, Panama and Colombia, returning to growth with €5.7 million in NGR, a year-on-year increase of over 50%.
CFO Marcus Arildsson said the company was “actively exploring opportunities” for expansion in LatAm, naming Uruguay and Chile as potential future markets.
But Mexico remains a priority for Codere Online, with Sher emphasising that the company still views it as a growth market.
“We are very confident in the work that we are doing in Mexico, but we do need to continue and invest, whether it’s in top of mind or in the promotional activity and give some of the money back to the players in terms of promotions,” he explained.
RSI taking share across its LatAm markets
Rush Street Interactive (RSI) had a hugely successful Q2, achieving quarterly records in revenue, net income and adjusted EBITDA.
On the US-operator’s post-Q2 earnings call, RSI CFO Kyle Sauers attributed the strong quarter to its execution strategy across the entire business. But he noted online casino and LatAm had been two areas of particular focus in the period.
LatAm MAUs (monthly active users) increased 62% year-on-year to approximately 653,000, while average revenue per MAU in the region also rose 82% to $55.
The World Cup provided an additional boost, with LatAm MAUs up more than 80% in June and July.
Additionally, over 25% of new World Cup first-time depositors subsequently engaged with casino. CEO Richard Schwartz said this was around 50% higher than during the Copa América two years earlier.
When quizzed on how far RSI was from entering the LatAm markets listed as expansion opportunities in its Q2 presentation, Schwartz said: “There are thoughts and efforts going into additional expansion in other markets down there. But certainly, it’s not something we’re prepared to share at this time.”
Sauers added: “The markets that we’re live in are growing really nicely. We believe we’re taking share in all of those markets, and we’d expect those to be significant growth drivers for us.”
MGM remains bullish on Brazil
MGM Resorts International continues to view Brazil as a significant long-term opportunity, despite what CEO Bill Hornbuckle described as a “dynamic and fluid” environment.
In August 2024, MGM Resorts International agreed a deal with Latin American media giant Grupo Globo to launch BetMGM Brazil in the regulated market.
In its Q2 presentation, the company reiterated its long-standing target for 10% market share in Brazil.
CFO Jonathan Halkyard said the company had observed encouraging data points in Brazil, namely first-time deposits, active players and NGR, without giving specifics.
“As we continue calibrating in Brazil, we’re expecting full-year EBITDA losses at MGM Digital to be less than last year,” Halkyard explained.
Gary Fritz, CCO and president of MGM Digital, also said the company’s Brazil investment would soon be self-funded in part by MGM digital operator LeoVegas.
“The exact nature of how much will be self-funded completely, we’re working out through the budgeting process that we’re in for [20]27, but we do anticipate some degree of self-financing from the core LeoVegas business,” he said.
Original article: https://igamingbusiness.com/finance/q2-latam-round-up-mixed-fortunes-brazil-flutter-entain/
