Lula campaign drops bets ban theme in second round, Folha reports

Brazil's President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has reduced mentions of bets in his second-round campaign against Flávio Bolsonaro, according to an analysis by Folha de S.Paulo of 46 videos from Lula's YouTube channel published up to 15 October. The average number of mentions of "bets" per video fell from 11 in the first round to four in the second round, the analysis found.

Reportedly, the topic was present in all of the channel's videos between 1 September and 4 October. In September, the month in which the government announced and issued MP 1.394/2026, "bets" was the eighth most-used word by the president, ahead of education. After the first round, the campaign removed betting from radio inserts and left the subject out of the Band debate on Sunday 18 October. BNLData said it had recorded the same absence at the TV Globo interview on 15 October.

It was reported that Lula stopped addressing football clubs after a reaction from club officials and supporters, which culminated in a protest by Flamengo and Fluminense at the Fla-Flu match on 11 October. According to the newspaper, the campaign instead focused on ending the 6×1 work schedule, forgiving debts of micro-entrepreneurs and direct attacks on the opponent. Folha also cited an SBT News report according to which first lady Janja da Silva said in tears that the end of bets had not produced the expected first-round victory.

On Monday 19 October, Guilherme Boulos, minister of the General Secretariat of the Presidency, met representatives of 35 organised supporters' groups from different clubs at the Presidency's office in São Paulo. According to the government's meeting notice, the situation of football after the betting ban was under discussion. Boulos acknowledged that the ban had affected clubs' financing and said the government is discussing alternatives but has not yet defined specific measures. He promised to create a permanent working group to discuss the supporters' demands and the effects of the loss of sponsorships. Participants at the meeting expressed support for Lula's re-election.

Folha cited a Quaest poll in which 64% of respondents knew of the ban and only 8% of that group disapproved of the measure. The newspaper said it was not clear how much of that approval translated into votes. BNLData said the 8% of disapprovers among those aware of the measure equates to about 5% of all respondents, which it projected over an electorate of more than 150 million people as more than 7 million voters. In September, an Atlas/Bloomberg poll indicated 17% of Brazilians opposed the ban.

It was reported that bets still feature in street events, and that in Natal Lula told supporters the march was by those who "no longer want bets robbing the poor people of this country". The campaign of Flávio Bolsonaro has said it is counting on supporters' dissatisfaction with the end of bets to take votes from Lula.