Boca Juniors Betsson shirt sponsorship at Maracanã sparks Brazil legal debate

Boca Juniors played at the Maracanã on the night of Tuesday 20 October with the Betsson betting brand displayed on the main space of its shirt, during a 3-1 win over Vasco da Gama that took the Argentine club to the Copa Sul-Americana final. The display prompted a legal debate over whether Brazil's betting legislation applies to foreign teams. According to the report, the situation is potentially illegal in Brazil.

Provisional Measure 1,394/2026, issued by the federal government on 25 September, prohibited any format of fixed-odds betting advertising or sponsorship in national territory, according to the report. The rule provides no exceptions for foreign clubs in international tournaments held in the country.

Eduardo Carlezzo, a sports law specialist and partner at Carlezzo Advogados, said the origin of the contract does not remove the illegality. He said the provisional measure does not distinguish Brazilian from foreign clubs and that the prohibition applies to any betting advertising shown in the country, and that the fact the sponsorship was signed abroad does not change that conclusion. He said what matters legally is that the brand was displayed in Brazilian territory and seen by the Brazilian public, and that under the measure this type of exposure is considered abusive advertising, attracting sanctions under the Consumer Protection Code, particularly administrative fines.

Sports law specialists indicated that liability may extend beyond the visiting club, according to the report. Display of the brand at an event with television reach is classified as abusive advertising, with sanctions including fines and suspension of the broadcast of commercial images. Civil and administrative liability may be attributed jointly to the broadcasters generating the images and to the host club, depending on their level of participation in the match's advertising structure.

Jurists noted that while Brazil has no extraterritorial jurisdiction to terminate contracts signed abroad, any sports entity operating within national borders is subject to local laws, the report said. The argument that the Betsson sponsorship was contracted in Argentina, where the activity is legal, does not neutralise the application of Brazilian rules.

Bernardo Freire Cavalcanti, a partner at Betlaw, a firm specialising in the betting industry, said the prohibition does not simply eliminate advertising: he said it exports legal uncertainty to international contracts, obliges Conmebol to redesign its commercial deliveries and creates a conflict between a unilateral Brazilian decision and commercial relations legitimately agreed in other countries. He also questioned the path adopted by the government, saying the Brazilian prohibition runs counter to what happens internationally, and that while clubs, leagues and sports entities in other countries structure commercial relations with regulated companies, Brazil risks removing the legal market, weakening companies that comply with rules and strengthening the illegal market. He said the debate should be about improving regulation, combating illegal operators and protecting consumers rather than simply prohibiting an activity that will continue to exist.

The case may also influence the conduct of other foreign clubs in matches played in Brazil, according to the report. European leagues with restrictions on gambling, such as those in Spain and Italy, already use the model of covering prohibited brands with strips or using kits without vetoed sponsors to avoid sanctions from local authorities.

Conmebol has begun using virtual overlay technology on LED panels as an alternative to reconcile clubs' commercial rights with the restrictions of the provisional measure, the report said. The system displays different brands according to the reception region of the official broadcast signal. In the first-leg match between Boca Juniors and Vasco da Gama played in Buenos Aires, the mechanism was applied in ESPN and SBT broadcasts: the signal shown in Brazil carried no betting brands, while viewers in other Latin American countries saw the Bwin logo around the pitch. In Brazil, the panels showed institutional messages or brands of other tournament sponsors, including Amstel, Midea, Coca-Cola, DHL, EA Sports, TCL, Mercado Livre, Rexona, Powerade and Mastercard World.

Fábio Wolff, partner-director at Wolff Sports and a sports marketing specialist, said the technological solution does not eliminate the competitive imbalance. He said the case shows the difficulty of applying a national restriction to an international sports product, since a single match brings together clubs, sponsors and broadcasters subject to rules of different countries. From a marketing standpoint, he said, while the brand remains on the shirt and appears in the broadcast it continues to receive exposure and generate recall even with the removal of the pitch boards, which can create a commercial imbalance relative to Brazilian clubs that had to remove their sponsors. He said the market needs clear criteria for these situations so that organisers, clubs and broadcasters know how to adapt their deliveries and who bears the costs of those changes.

Luiz Guilherme, director of clubs and business at Agência End to End, said the virtual overlay solves the screen problem but not the model problem. He said football now has two realities: a clean image for Brazil and a visible brand for the rest of the continent, with the opponent entering the pitch in the Betsson shirt, as in the case of Boca against Vasco. He said this generates new technological cost, legal uncertainty for international contracts and an unequal advantage between those with a foreign sponsor and those dependent on the Brazilian market.

Conmebol also maintains an institutional partnership with Betano until the end of 2028, according to the report. Although that contract does not involve displaying brands on club tournament kits, the Brazilian regulatory framework is leading South American football to reassess its financial dependence on the betting sector.

Igor Sá, an iGaming market executive who has worked at companies including Esportes da Sorte, BETesporte, F12 and HiperBet, said virtual overlay technology emerges as an alternative to reconcile Brazilian restrictions with the entity's international commitments, but also shows the need for legal certainty and predictability for companies investing in sport, aspects he said the recent federal government measure disregarded.