Brazil's Lula Bans Fixed-Odds Sports Betting Ahead of October Election

^{Brazilian president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who has signed a provisional measure banning fixed-odds sports betting nationwide. (Photo: Ricardo Stuckert / Palácio do Planalto)}

Decree Bans Betting on Real and Virtual Sporting Events

Brazilian president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has signed Provisional Measure 1,394, banning the exploitation, offer, intermediation and advertising of fixed-odds sports betting ("apostas de quota fixa") across Brazil, according to the text published in the Diário Oficial da União.

The measure prohibits betting on real sporting events and on virtual online games, whether carried out physically or online, including by operators based outside Brazil who offer betting services to people located in the country. It does not apply to other lottery formats authorised separately under Brazilian law.

Under the decree, licences, permits and authorisations already granted to fixed-odds betting operators under Brazil's 2023 gambling law will be extinguished within 30 days of the measure's publication. The decree also creates an Interinstitutional Committee to oversee enforcement action against illegal betting operations and advertising.

Election-Timing Draws Scrutiny

The ban arrives roughly a week before Brazil's presidential election, a timing that has drawn attention from analysts and opposition figures. Lula has previously been vocal in his criticism of the betting industry, saying he would take "immense pleasure" in ending sports betting in the country because of its social impact on Brazilian families.

The provisional measure states it "prohibits, in national territory, the exploitation, offer, intermediation and advertising of fixed-odds sports betting lotteries, whether in physical or virtual media."

As a provisional measure, the decree takes immediate legal effect but must be considered by Brazil's National Congress within 120 days or it will lapse. Industry groups are expected to challenge aspects of the measure as it moves through the legislative process.

The move follows a period of intensifying political pressure on Brazil's regulated betting sector, after Sao Paulo's governor called for an outright betting ban and separate proposals in Congress that would ban online casino games entirely.

Licensed operators in Brazil, some of which had only completed the country's formal authorisation process within the past two years, now face the immediate loss of their legal status unless Congress intervenes before the measure's window closes.

Operators Face an Uncertain 30 Days

Brazil's regulated betting market has grown rapidly since a licensing framework was introduced in 2023, with dozens of local and international operators securing authorisation to offer fixed-odds sports betting and online gaming to Brazilian consumers. The scale of that build-out means the ban, if it survives Congress, would immediately unwind one of the largest newly regulated betting markets in the world.

Legal experts say operators are likely to explore court challenges to the provisional measure while it awaits congressional review, arguing that extinguishing licences granted under a 2023 law via emergency decree raises questions about due process and investor protection. Congress could also amend or reject the measure outright during its 120-day review window, which would restore the status quo. Until that process concludes, licensed betting companies in Brazil are left managing significant uncertainty over whether they will be able to keep operating at all.

The ban's timing, so close to the election, means it is also likely to become a campaign issue in its own right, with candidates on different sides of the vote expected to stake out positions on whether the prohibition should stand once the immediate political moment has passed.

Source: Diário Oficial da União / Planalto (Medida Provisória 1394/2026)