Esportes da Sorte granted Rio licence via Loterj following ST Soft acquisition
One month on from being embroiled in controversy related to an illegal gambling sting it has since distanced itself from, Esportes da Sorte will now be able to operate in Rio de Janeiro having landed a Loterj licence
Esportes da Sorte has been given approval to operate in Rio de Janeiro by Loterj to allow it to remain live in Brazil after the Ministry of Finance did not include the firm in its list of approved businesses.
Esportes da Sorte’s parent company, Esportes Gaming Brasil, has purchased a controlling stake in ST Soft, the company behind of Apostou.com which has boasted a Loterj licence since November 2023.
Loterj acts as a de facto regulator in Rio de Janeiro, with the body approving 12 brands to run sports betting and igaming operations in the state, including Caesars Sportsbook and Pixbet.
After acquiring the controlling interest, Esportes Gaming Brasil soon replaced the Apostou.com domain with its own esportesdasorte.com and onabet.com websites, a decision approved by Loterj.
The acquisition of ST Soft comes after Esportes da Sorte was not named among the 93 approved operators by the Brazilian Ministry of Finance to continue to remain live in the market until its full regulation on 1 January 2025.
Since 1 October, operators that had not applied for a licence were deemed illegal and are being shut down by the government, while those firms that did apply but have not yet given approval remain in limbo until government approval.
This latest development does not yet mean Esportes da Sorte can operate nationwide, with a Federal Regional Court recently ruling that a Loterj licence does not hold any jurisdiction outside of the Brazilian capital region.
An Esportes da Sorte statement read: “The Group Esportes da Sorte has operating authorisation confirmed and validated by Loterj and, therefore, obtains approval from the local authority to operate for an initial period of five years.
“The Group Esportes da Sorte reinforces its commitment to the regulation of the sector and responsible gambling, supporting the legal and reputable market, seeking to protect the interests of bettors and striving for a serious and transparent industry.”
Esportes da Sorte, the official front-of-shirt-sponsor for Brazilian football giants the Corinthians, has since filed an administrative appeal to Brazil’s regulator, the SPA.
The acquisition and subsequent approval to launch in Rio de Janeiro comes just one month after Esportes da Sorte distanced itself from a multi-agency operation focused on money laundering and illegal gambling in Brazil, despite the fact its CEO handed himself into the police.
‘Operation Integration’, which resulted in 19 arrest warrants and 24 search and seizure warrants being issued, targeted a criminal organisation that allegedly moved just shy of BRL3bn (£409.8m) through illegal gambling and money laundering.
Though Esportes da Sorte CEO Darwin Henrique da Silva Filho and his wife Maria Eduarda Quinto Filizola both turned themselves into the police, the CEO wrote an open letter explaining the decision and insisting he would prove his innocence.
“I have always been very vocal in my intention to contribute to the debate in favour of regulating fixed-odds sports betting and online gaming in Brazil,” Filho wrote in the letter.
“As a representative of Esportes da Sorte, I have always collaborated with the authorities and investigations. Our activity is legal, but criminal organisations are difficult to combat, and I believe that this should be separated.”
Days later, Gabriel Oliveira, the operator’s legal director, dubbed the operation as a “disservice to the nation” and claimed the investigation would be looked back upon as an “unreasonable, disproportionate and irresponsible episode in history”.