Brazil’s Supreme Court may bundle betting and gambling cases into one hearing

The STF is considering a single session for several disputes tied to Brazil’s gambling market, including sports betting, the ban on jogo do bicho, bingo and slot machines, and the authority of states and municipalities to run their own lottery and betting systems. For PSPs and operators, the practical point is simple: one procedural decision could put multiple pieces of Brazil’s gambling framework under the same judicial spotlight.

1. The proposed joint trial would cover five groups of cases: one challenging the continued ban on jogo do bicho, bingo and slot machines; three cases on the constitutionality of the initial regulation of fixed-odds sports betting (bets); four cases challenging the legality of the provisional measure that ordered betting platforms to be banned; and one case on whether states and municipalities can create their own lotteries, sweepstakes and sports betting systems.
2. Luiz Fux is the rapporteur for the first three topics. The case on whether states and municipalities can establish their own lottery and betting systems is under Nunes Marques. That review had been scheduled for Wednesday, but it was suspended after the court began discussing whether to unify the proceedings.
3. Edson Fachin said he had initially considered separating the hearings, but acknowledged that the matters are connected and said he is open to a joint analysis. In other words, the court is not just weighing each dispute on its own; it is also deciding whether Brazil’s gambling rules should be interpreted as one legal package.
4. Fux supported the idea of expanding the hearing to include the other gambling categories, but said the growing number of cases and filings before the court means he needs more time to prepare his vote. He noted that there are now four cases challenging the law that authorized the bets market and four more questioning the constitutionality of the move that shut bets down, plus an increasing number of briefs from amicus curiae (friends of the court).
5. Flávio Dino raised the idea of a broader review of gambling cases. In August, he requested a view on an appeal dealing with the validity of the 1941 legislation that bans gambling in Brazil, saying he wanted that dispute to be examined together with other cases, including those linked to betting.