Brazil’s betting ban leaves 85 authorisations expired, column says

Brazil's Provisional Measure 1.394/2026, which prohibited fixed-odds betting and its advertising, gave authorised companies 30 days, and that period ended on 25 October, according to an opinion column. The column said 85 authorisations granted by the Secretariat of Prizes and Betting of the Ministry of Finance (SPA-MF), covering 188 brands, lost validity, and that fees already paid will not be returned. It said the licences are cancelled unless a court decision with retroactive effect is issued.

The column said operators and the National Association of Games and Lotteries (ANJL) filed 19 writs of mandamus in the federal courts after the measure was issued, seeking mainly to suspend its effects and keep licences valid. It said 14 were filed at the Federal Regional Court of the 3rd Region (TRF3), covering São Paulo and Mato Grosso do Sul, and five at the Federal Regional Court of the 1st Region (TRF1), based in Brasília, including the ANJL's. No judge had granted an injunction, according to the column.

The column said the only ruling in the sector's favour was short-lived: the 9th Federal Civil Court of São Paulo granted Stake a partial injunction allowing it to operate until 25 October, but the president of TRF3 suspended that decision at the Union's request. It said the final word on the measure's constitutionality rests with the Supreme Court, where a request for an injunction to suspend all or part of the measure's effects is before minister Luiz Fux.

On the legislative track, the column said immediate analysis of the measure in Congress is unlikely. It said the measure would block the agenda of the house where it is being considered from 9 November, its 46th day in force, that the initial 60-day period ends on 23 November and that an extension begins the following day. With the parliamentary recess from 23 December to 1 February, the count is suspended and the measure would only lose validity on 4 March 2027 if not voted on by then, according to the column.

The column said the prohibition hit a regulated market that had existed for 22 months, and that the fixed-odds law, Law 14.790, was approved in 2018 and spent six years without regulation. It said the country had 85 years of prohibition since the Criminal Misdemeanours Law of 1941, a period in which only lotteries operated, under federal control. The column also said the government announced the prohibition without hearing the regulated sector, and that President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva was re-elected on 25 October for a fourth term with 51.78% of valid votes against 48.22% for Flávio Bolsonaro, with 99.99% of sections counted by the TSE.