Brazil’s betting ban MP draws 48 amendments, with lawmakers pushing to keep sports betting legal

Brazil’s Congress has already filed 48 amendments to the provisional measure that would ban betting in the country, and several of them aim to carve sports betting out of the prohibition. For PSPs and operators watching Brazil, the real issue is not the headline ban, but where lawmakers eventually draw the line between sports betting, casino-style products, advertising, and licensing.

1. By the evening of Tuesday, 6/10, lawmakers had submitted 48 amendment proposals to the MP (provisional measure) issued by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT). The measure takes effect immediately, but it is temporary for up to four months and must be approved by Congress within 120 days if the ban is to become permanent.
2. A group of lawmakers is trying to remove sports betting from the ban. Among those filing amendments are deputies Marcos Braz (PSDB-RJ), Julio Lopes (PP-RJ), Pedro Aihara (PP-MG), Felipe Francischini (Podemos-PR) and Julio Arcoverde (PP-PI), plus senators Marcos Pontes (PL-SP) and Hiran Gonçalves (PP-RR). Senator Flávio Bolsonaro (PL-RJ) holds the same line: keep sports betting legal and ban only online casinos.
3. Deputy Bebeto (PP-RJ) filed a different amendment. His version would lift the betting ban, but tighten advertising restrictions for operators, including limits on stadium naming rights deals. In his words, broad prohibition does not remove demand; it shifts players to unauthorized platforms based abroad.
4. Deputy Tabata Amaral (PSB-SP) proposed a public-health angle. Her amendment says the Sistema Único de Saúde – SUS should provide full care to people with problems related to betting and to their families, following specific guidelines.
5. Other amendments on the table include partial refunds of operation licence fees to betting companies, a transition period for football clubs to keep advertising contracts with betting brands, and the formal removal of sports betting from the ban.

The deadline for submissions has been extended to 13 October. The extension was justified by the presidency of the Mesa do Congresso Nacional on the basis of the “principle of full and equal participation of parliamentarians in all legislative activities” and to move the deadline past the first round of elections held on Sunday, 5/10. The congressional leadership has not yet set the committee timetable or named the rapporteur and chair for the joint committee that will review the MP.