Esportes da Sorte asks to terminate Corinthians sponsorship after Brazil MP bans betting operators

Esportes da Sorte has notified Corinthians that it wants to end its master sponsorship contract without paying a penalty, citing Medida Provisória 1.394/2026, which suspended betting operators in Brazil. For PSPs and acquirers serving high-risk merchants, the useful bit is simple: when a regulator freezes the underlying activity, the sponsorship stack tends to unwind fast.

1. According to UOL, later confirmed by Estadão, Esportes da Sorte asked Corinthians to rescind the deal after the government-issued MP made the continuation of betting sponsorships unworkable. Corinthians says any final decision depends on what the National Congress does with the MP, since the provisional measure still needs to be made permanent.
2. The contract was renewed in February 2026 and extended through 2029. Under the agreement, Esportes da Sorte committed to pay Corinthians R$ 150 million fixed per year. The contract has been suspended since 25 September 2026, when the federal government issued MP 1.394, which also suspended all other Brazilian football agreements involving betting companies.
3. In its statement, Esportes da Sorte said the current legal environment makes “the continuity of the contracts” impossible and argued that ending the partnership formally, with no cost or penalty for either side, is the natural outcome under the agreements already signed. In other words: when the law pulls the plug, commercial language gets very short very quickly.
4. The scale matters. In 2025, betting brands accounted for 7.9% of Serie A clubs’ direct sponsorship revenue, on top of spending on competitions and TV advertising. That is the kind of exposure that turns a legal change into an immediate balance-sheet question for clubs and their payment partners.
5. The issue is now moving through both the Supreme Federal Court (STF) and Congress. Corinthians and other clubs will take part in a public hearing at the STF on Tuesday (3/11), while lawmakers have proposed amendments to keep part of the sector operating. Esportes da Sorte said it is ready to resume talks if the MP is suspended or amended.

For high-risk payment providers, the key point is not the sponsorship itself but the mechanism: when operating licences are suspended by decree, downstream commercial contracts, media spend, and club funding arrangements can be forced into suspension at the same time. Brazil is showing exactly how quickly that cascade can happen.