Brazil’s betting sector fears R$ 120 billion losses if Lula moves to ban online gambling

Brazil’s sports betting and online casino sector is reacting to President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s remarks comparing bets to crack and saying he has a “personal willingness” to end gambling in the country. For PSPs and acquirers, the real issue is not the rhetoric; it is the possibility of decrees, provisional measures, and litigation over licenses already sold.

1. On Wednesday (16/9), in the podcast Desce a Letra Show, Lula said he sees bets as resembling crack addiction, arguing that users are “selling what they don’t have” and “getting into debt.” The remarks immediately raised concern in Brazil’s betting and online casino market.
2. According to Folha de S.Paulo, the government has not defined any measure or publication timeline yet. Reversing the online betting laws approved between 2018 and 2023 would require support from Congress, but government contacts still expect a high-impact decision.
3. Industry representatives say the government could act by decree or by provisional measure. The options under discussion include a ban on gambling advertising and a prohibition on online casinos such as jogo do tigrinho and Aviator. Those two areas are currently regulated by an ordinance from the Secretariat of Prizes and Bets, which means the Executive could revisit them without going back to Congress, making any court challenge harder.
4. A ban on online casinos would hit sector revenue directly: about 70% of betting turnover comes from these electronic gaming platforms, according to industry representatives. In other words, this is not a side product; it is the engine.
5. On 1 September, Lula met civil society representatives, influencers, and artists behind a bill that would ban jogo do tigrinho and betting ads at sports events and on social media. The text, brought to the Senate by the Brasil Contra as Bets movement, is moving through committees with support from lawmakers from PL, PT, and PSD.

The bill would target so-called “high-risk products,” a category that would include online casinos and other instant-result games. It would also prohibit betting sponsorship of clubs, competitions, sports broadcasts, cultural events, and digital influencers, while allowing only institutional communication on the operators’ own platforms and email campaigns to registered customers, without profit promises, bonus offers, or eye-catching graphics.

Separate from the legislative track, the Associação das Mulheres da Indústria do Gaming is already preparing for a veto scenario. In a public letter, it said such measures would directly affect about 10,000 women workers in the sector and more than 10 million registered female bettors in the regulated market. The ANJL (Associação Nacional de Jogos e Loterias) is also looking at the issue from the judicial angle, where the main argument appears to be breach of contract on already acquired licenses.