Portugal’s Online Betting Landscape in 2025: A Regulated and Evolving Market
Online betting has become a significant part of Portugal’s digital entertainment sector over the past decade. Casino slot games are particularly popular, attracting a large audience due to their accessibility, diverse themes, and potential for attractive prizes. A turning point occurred in 2015 with the enactment of the Legal Regime for Online Games and Betting (RJSAOL), approved by Law No. 66/2015. This legislation established a clear legal framework for remote gaming activity, allowing the licensing of private operators and ending the previous state monopoly.
Since then, the market has grown consistently, attracting millions of users and generating hundreds of millions of euros annually. This rapid growth, however, has required effective control and supervision mechanisms to ensure transparency, consumer protection, and the fight against illegal gambling.
Regulation has become a central element in maintaining the balance between sector development and preserving the integrity and safety of its participants. In 2025, Portuguese legislation continues to evolve, keeping pace with technological advances and new challenges in the digital environment, with the aim of ensuring that online gambling remains a lawful, responsible, and safe activity.
Current Legal Framework
In 2025, the legal framework regulating online betting in Portugal continues to be based on Law No. 66/2015, supplemented by specific regulations and technical updates introduced over the last decade. This legal regime defines the types of games allowed, the criteria for licensing operators, the duties of service providers, and the rights of users.
Portuguese legislation seeks to guarantee a safe and transparent offering, with clear rules on platform operation, advertising, data protection, taxation, and the promotion of responsible gambling. At the same time, it actively combats illegal platforms that operate without a license and outside the scope of national regulation.
The central body in the application and enforcement of these rules is the Gaming Regulation and Inspection Service (SRIJ), an entity integrated into Turismo de Portugal. The SRIJ is responsible for analyzing licensing applications, supervising the activity of operators, applying sanctions in case of non-compliance, and coordinating market monitoring actions.
In addition, the SRIJ plays an essential role in consumer protection, ensuring that licensed platforms offer responsible gaming tools, customer support, and conflict resolution mechanisms. Its actions aim to balance the economic growth of the sector with the defense of the public interest and the safety of Portuguese users.
Types of Legalized Betting
The Portuguese legislation in force in 2025 recognizes and regulates three major categories of online betting, all subject to licensing and supervision by the Gaming Regulation and Inspection Service (SRIJ). This classification ensures that activities are developed within a transparent, safe, and supervised legal framework.
Fixed-Odds Sports Betting
This type of betting consists of predicting the outcome of a sporting event based on odds fixed in advance by the bookmaker. “Fixed-odds bets” are the most popular among Portuguese users and cover sports such as football, tennis, basketball, and others. Users know in advance what the possible return will be based on the chosen odd, which provides clarity and predictability.
Games of Chance (Online Casino)
These include a variety of games based on chance, such as roulette, blackjack, baccarat, slot machines, online poker, among others. These games are offered on licensed platforms and often operate with random number generator (RNG) technology, ensuring impartiality in the results. Some operators also offer games with live dealers, reinforcing the experience of realism and trust.
Mutual Betting
Unlike fixed-odds betting, in mutual betting the prizes are formed based on the total wagered by the players, with the final amount distributed among the winners after deducting a commission by the operator. This model is common in events such as horse races or modalities with a large number of participants, and requires the presence of a critical mass of bettors to generate attractive prizes.
Each of these categories is subject to specific rules regarding operation, disclosure, prize limits, and tax obligations, contributing to a diversified but controlled market.
Requirements for Operators
In Portugal, any entity wishing to offer online games and betting legally in 2025 must obtain an official license issued by the Gaming Regulation and Inspection Service (SRIJ). This licensing process is rigorous and aims to ensure that only operators with technical, financial, and ethical capacity can operate in the Portuguese market.
Licensing and Legal Obligations
To obtain a license, the company must submit a detailed application, present evidence of suitability, capital structure, technical capacity, security systems, and commitment to responsible gaming standards. The SRIJ analyzes each request with demanding criteria, ensuring that the operator complies with all national legal provisions.
After licensing, the operator is subject to continuous obligations, including maintaining auditable systems, records of all transactions, protection of user data, and cooperation with the authorities in case of investigations.
Fiscal Rules and Technical Requirements
Licensed operators must comply with clear fiscal obligations, including the payment of taxes on gross gaming revenue, the rates of which vary according to the type of bet and the volume of business.
From a technical point of view, platforms must guarantee the stability of services, the use of anti-fraud systems, data encryption, integration with SRIJ control systems, and transparency in games — especially in the case of games of chance, with the mandatory use of certified random number generators (RNG).
Consumer Protection Measures
An essential part of licensing involves the implementation of user protection measures, such as:
- Availability of responsible gaming tools (deposit limits, session time, self-exclusion).
- Easy access to customer support channels and psychological help lines.
- Fair gaming and conflict resolution policies.
- Strict restrictions on access by minors.
These requirements aim to ensure that the operator acts with responsibility, transparency, and respect for the user, maintaining confidence in the legal online betting system in Portugal.
Measures to Combat Illegal Gambling
Despite the existence of a solid legal framework, illegal online gambling continues to represent a significant challenge for the Portuguese authorities. In 2025, combating unlicensed platforms is a strategic priority, both to protect consumers and to ensure the integrity of the regulated market.
Monitoring and Blocking Unlicensed Sites
The Gaming Regulation and Inspection Service (SRIJ) maintains constant surveillance over the internet to identify platforms that operate without a valid license in Portugal. Once identified, these sites are subject to access blocking (DNS blocking) in collaboration with internet service providers (ISPs), preventing Portuguese users from accessing them.
In addition, the SRIJ may request the suspension of financial transactions between banks and illegal operators, making it difficult for these platforms to operate in the national territory. This technical and legal approach has contributed to reducing the presence of unauthorized gambling.
Partnerships with International Entities
As online gambling is a global activity, combating illegal gambling requires international cooperation. Portugal maintains partnerships with regulatory bodies from other countries, as well as with entities such as the European Gaming and Betting Association (EGBA) and the European Commission, to share data, experiences, and best practices.
These collaborations help to identify international illegal gambling networks and to apply more effective joint measures.
Public Information Campaigns
In addition to repressive action, it is essential to inform citizens about the risks of playing on unlicensed platforms. The SRIJ and other entities promote public awareness campaigns, alerting to the absence of legal guarantees, the possibility of fraud, and the lack of consumer protection mechanisms on illegal sites.
By educating users and promoting confidence in authorized platforms, these campaigns help to channel the public to the regulated and safe market.
Challenges and Future Perspectives
As the online betting sector continues to evolve in 2025, new regulatory and technological challenges arise that require a strategic response from authorities, operators, and legislators. The sustainability of this market will depend on its ability to adapt to a constantly changing environment, without losing sight of consumer protection.
Adaptation to New Technologies
The rapid introduction of technologies such as artificial intelligence, blockchain, virtual reality, and live interactive games challenges regulators to keep pace with innovation. It is necessary to update legal and technical frameworks to ensure that these technologies are integrated safely and ethically. Regulation should remain flexible and dynamic, allowing innovation without compromising the principles of fairness, transparency, and responsibility.
Harmonization with European Union Standards
Although Portugal has solid and independent regulation, there is a growing trend towards harmonization of standards at the European level. Legislative convergence can bring benefits such as the protection of consumers in all member countries, the coordinated fight against illegal gambling, and the creation of a more competitive and regulated market.
Actively participating in forums and initiatives of the European Union will allow Portugal to remain at the forefront of best practices and adjust its system to the demands of an increasingly integrated digital space.
Reinforcement of Responsible Gaming Policies
One of the major focuses for the future is the continuous reinforcement of responsible gaming measures. The authorities plan to expand the use of digital tools that help users manage their gambling habits, as well as strengthen collaboration with addiction and mental health support entities.
In addition, greater integration between operators and public support services is expected, allowing a more effective response to cases of problem gambling. The emphasis will be on a preventive and humanized approach, where the well-being of the user is the top priority.
Conclusion
The Portuguese model of online betting regulation, established in 2015 and continuously updated until 2025, is widely recognized as one of the most solid and balanced in Europe. Through the rigorous action of the SRIJ, Portugal has managed to build a legalized, safe, and competitive market, capable of protecting consumers without inhibiting technological innovation and sector growth.
Portuguese regulation has demonstrated effectiveness in licensing operators with demanding criteria, in combating illegal gambling with concrete actions, and in promoting responsible gambling as an essential pillar of the ecosystem. This model has served as a reference for other countries, showing that it is possible to align economic development with social responsibility.
However, the challenges do not disappear. The constant technological evolution and the international scenario impose the need for continuous updating. For the future, it will be essential to strengthen international collaboration, modernize supervision mechanisms, reinforce consumer education, and consolidate public policies that place the health and well-being of users at the center of decisions.
The path is set: to build a safer, more transparent, and sustainable online betting ecosystem, where digital leisure will coexist with respect for rules, ethics, and human dignity.
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