Flávio Bolsonaro’s campaign is weighing a ban or tighter rules for online betting after citing R$ 62 billion in family spending

Flávio Bolsonaro’s presidential campaign has not settled on whether to fully ban online betting in Brazil or simply tighten the rules. His running mate, Alfredo Gaspar, says the team is looking at anything from new restrictions to a full shutdown, and the number being used to justify that debate is R$ 62 billion allegedly drained from Brazilian households.

1. Gaspar said on Tuesday (18/8) in Brasília that the campaign has not adopted a final position on a total ban of online betting operators, or bets. The discussion is still open between revisiting regulation and going all the way to prohibition.
2. According to Gaspar, the issue is tied to R$ 62 billion that, in his words, were taken from Brazilian families through betting, affecting spending on food, medicine, and basic support. That is the political argument now driving the campaign’s internal review.
3. He said the scope of any change will depend on the diagnosis made by the team. His phrasing was blunt: the response should be “the size Brazil needs” to “save Brazilian families,” with some advisers studying the best way to do it.
4. Gaspar also set out his personal view, which is stricter than the current draft government program for Flávio Bolsonaro. He said the sector is “completely out of control” and argued for either a targeted shutdown beyond what is already happening or a full ban.
5. He blamed the Lula government for the expansion of betting in Brazil, while noting the legal timeline: fixed-odds sports betting was legalized in 2018 under Michel Temer, regulation advanced in 2023 with a law approved by Congress that also included online games, and since January 2025 only companies authorized by the Ministry of Finance can operate nationwide.

The remarks were delivered at an event organized by the União Nacional de Entidades do Comércio e Serviços (Unecs) in Brasília, where Gaspar represented Flávio. For payment providers serving Brazil, the practical point is simple: this is no longer just a regulatory question, but an open political fight over whether the market keeps its current structure at all.