Abratel asks to join STF cases challenging Brazil’s Lei das Bets as amicus curiae

The Brazilian Association of Radio and Television (Abratel) filed two requests on 31 August and 1 September 2026 to enter the Supreme Federal Court cases as amicus curiae in challenges to Law No. 14.790/2023, the country’s betting law. For high-risk payment and advertising flows, the point is simple: if the court narrows or strikes down the rules, the compliance perimeter for betting marketing could move fast.

1. Abratel says it has direct relevance to both actions because Law No. 14.790/2023 and the rules that implement it, especially Ordinance SPA/MF No. 1.231/2024, expressly regulate communication, advertising, and marketing by betting operators. The association was founded in Brasília on 11 March 1999 and represents broadcasters including Record, Rede TV, Rede CNT de Televisão, Record News, and Rede Família.
2. The requests relate to ADI No. 7.723 and ADI No. 7.749, both assigned to Justice Luiz Fux. Abratel’s argument is that the dispute is not only about betting operators: any constitutional ruling could affect the entire commercial advertising chain, including broadcasters that carry betting campaigns.
3. ADI No. 7.723 was filed by Partido Solidariedade and seeks a declaration that Law No. 14.790/2023 is unconstitutional in full. The party argues the law encourages gambling activity with economic, social, and public health effects, especially on more vulnerable groups, and asked for a precautionary suspension of the law until final judgment.
4. ADI No. 7.749 was filed by the Prosecutor General’s Office and goes further, challenging most of the betting law as well as Articles 29 to 33 and 35-A of Law No. 13.756/2018 and all ordinances issued by the Secretariat of Prizes and Betting of the Ministry of Finance (SPA/MF). The PGR says the federal framework is insufficient to protect the economy and consumers’ fundamental rights in the online betting market, and asked for the practice to be restored as a criminal offense under Decree-Law No. 3.688/1941.
5. The Senate asked for the initial petition to be dismissed for formal defects and, on the merits, for the action to be rejected. ADI No. 7.749 and ADI No. 7.723 were assigned to Fux by prevention because they are connected to ADI No. 7.640 and ADI No. 7.721.

For PSPs, acquirers, and banks that touch betting traffic in Brazil, the useful detail is that Articles 16 to 18 of Law No. 14.790/2023 and Ordinance No. 1.231/2024 are the pieces Abratel says govern advertising, including protections for children, adolescents, and vulnerable consumers. If the STF changes the legal basis here, the downstream effect is not just on operator onboarding; it reaches media buying, campaign approval, and the terms under which betting brands can show up in broadcast inventory.