Apple and Google Remove Sports Betting Apps from Their Stores in Brazil as Government Freeze Takes Effect

Apple and Google pulled betting apps from their digital stores in Brazil on Tuesday, October 6, the first day a provisional measure banning fixed-odds betting took effect. For PSPs and acquirers, the bigger point is not app-store housekeeping: by Monday afternoon, R$ 1.33 billion in user balances was already sitting inside these platforms, and the government had set a hard timetable for refunds.

1. O Globo Online tracked 15 betting apps that had been operating legally in Brazil since the end of the previous week. They were still downloadable on Monday, October 5, but by Tuesday morning they no longer appeared in searches on the two main stores. Searches for betting brands or terms such as “bet” and “casino” began returning only games that simulate slot machines, with no financial return, or card games.
2. On Monday, October 5, users could still install the apps on phones, but deposits and bets were already blocked. The apps displayed messages referencing the provisional measure, and some stated explicitly that new deposits could not be made. By mid-afternoon, the balance retained on the platforms had reached R$ 1.33 billion.
3. The government kept the apps available for download until 23:59 on Monday for a reason: that was the deadline for bettors to withdraw their balances voluntarily. The provisional measure banned the operation, offering, intermediation, and advertising of fixed-odds betting in Brazil, and it also set the shutdown and refund schedule.
4. That schedule was straightforward. By 23:59 on October 5, users had to make voluntary withdrawals directly on the platforms. From 0:00 on October 6, betting websites and apps were supposed to go offline. On October 7 and 8, companies had to inform banks of the amounts held for each user, identified by CPF. From October 9 to 14, financial institutions were supposed to return the funds to bettors.
5. On many installed iPhone and Android apps, users were redirected to brasilsembets.com.br, a site the government intended to use for balance-recovery information and awareness campaigns about gambling risks. Some betting operators did not follow the order: a number of apps kept showing only the prohibition message from the provisional measure, while others stopped offering any functionality at all.

The Associação Nacional dos Jogos e Loterias (ANJL) called the provisional measure electoral and legally invalid, and told its operators not to implement it. The government of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva issued the measure nine days before the first round of the presidential election, after having regulated the sector.