Brazil bans sports betting and online casinos in late-September decree

Brazil's government banned sports betting and online casinos at the end of September under a decree signed by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, citing The Economist. The report said the sector generated more than $10bn in player losses last year. The decree was announced during the election campaign, with the second round of the presidential election scheduled for Tuesday 25 October.

Lula justified the decree by citing household indebtedness, deaths related to addiction and the spread of problem gambling among Brazilians, the report said. Brazil became the fifth-largest betting market in the world in 2025, and academic research that year found that about 7% of Brazilians showed problem-gambling behaviour, more than three times the rate in the United Kingdom, where the figure is 2%.

The report said the United Kingdom, Germany and Italy have chosen betting limits, active supervision and player-protection rules rather than broad bans. Betting was legalised in Brazil in 2018, but the law imposed neither taxes on the sector nor advertising rules. In 2024 the government imposed limits on betting advertising, restrictions on the use of credit cards for betting, mandatory age verification, a licensing fee of R$30m per operator and a 12% rate on revenues.

Daniele Cardoso, of the Secretaria de Prêmios e Apostas, the sector's regulator, acknowledged that implementing these safeguards was difficult, and the results fell short of expectations, according to the report. Guilherme Klein, of the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, estimated that bettors who diverted resources to gambling instead of more productive activities reduced Brazil's GDP by 1% in 2025, an impact larger than that of the tariffs imposed by Donald Trump on the country. Luiz Orsatti, of Procon-SP, said more people began betting large amounts and accumulating debts. Anchieta Nery, head of intelligence at the Ministry of Justice, said jogo do bicho operators were not displaced by the legalisation process but moved to the internet, where they run legal and illegal sites.

The ban faces resistance on several fronts, the report said. Betting companies are threatening to sue the government to recover the $500m paid in licensing fees, and their lobbyists argue the measure will expand the illegal market, which already accounted for 30% of the sector before the decree. Leading football clubs, many sponsored by betting operators, said a permanent ban could mean "o fim do futebol brasileiro"; some players entered the pitch with messages protesting against the measure.

The report noted that Brazil banned gambling in 1946 and closed establishments ranging from betting houses to bingo halls, which strengthened the jogo do bicho, an illegal lottery controlled by criminals who over time infiltrated politics and the formal economy and sponsored samba schools to build a positive public image. One aim of the 2018 legalisation was to weaken these groups. Lula's second-round opponent, Flávio Bolsonaro, is described as favouring less strict rules for the sector, possibly keeping online casinos closed while allowing sports betting. The result of the election is expected to define policy for the sector in the coming years, according to the report.