ABRAJOGO says Brazil’s ban on fixed-odds betting breaks the regulatory framework and weakens legal certainty

The Brazilian Association of International Game Operators and Providers (ABRAJOGO) says the sudden ban on fixed-odds betting undermines a market that had been authorized, supervised, and charged licensing fees by the federal government. For high-risk PSPs, the issue is not just betting: it is whether Brazil’s regulatory commitments can be relied on after capital, contracts, and operating infrastructure are already in place.

1. ABRAJOGO says Brazil built a regulatory framework for betting, issued authorizations, and collected fees for operations. On that basis, companies invested in the country, hired staff, developed systems, signed contracts, and structured their businesses to meet the government’s requirements.
2. The association argues that the activity was then prohibited “abruptly,” “from one hour to the next,” without protection for investors who had relied on the rules set by the state. In practice, that is the part payment providers care about: if a regulated vertical can be turned off without a transition, the risk model for banks, acquirers, and PSPs changes immediately.
3. ABRAJOGO says the ban does not eliminate demand. Instead, it pushes consumers toward clandestine platforms that are not subject to the same obligations for identification, monitoring, self-exclusion, Responsible Gaming, and consumer protection imposed on authorized operators.
4. The association also says the regulated environment gives the state tools for supervision, control, and transaction tracing. Weakening that model reduces oversight and expands room for operators acting outside Brazilian rules.
5. According to ABRAJOGO, the consequences extend beyond betting itself to jobs, suppliers, contracts, investments, sponsorships, and other parts of the economic chain built after regulation, as well as government revenue and public-interest allocations. The group says it will take appropriate legal measures.

For PSPs, acquirers, and banking partners, the key signal is straightforward: Brazil is not just changing a product rule; it is testing how far regulatory stability can be trusted once an activity has already been licensed, taxed, and integrated into the formal economy.