Brazil’s clubs fear immediate sponsorship losses if the government restricts or bans online casinos

The federal government is studying a Provisional Measure that could restrict or ban online casino operations in Brazil, and that has sent football clubs and betting companies into defensive mode. The immediate issue is not whether sports betting survives on paper; it is whether the casino-heavy revenue model behind many bet contracts can keep paying the bills.

1. President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva revived the issue on Friday (18/9), again criticizing bets and rejecting the argument that tighter regulation would end sport in Brazil. Speaking at a rally in Guarulhos, he said: “This idea that if bets end, football ends is nonsense. What we need to end is the shamelessness in football.”
2. According to O Globo, the clubs’ concern is real, but not to the point of making Brazilian football unviable. There is still no concrete draft of the MP, and what is circulating behind the scenes has been enough to set off alarms across the sector.
3. The financial pressure starts with the structure of betting-company revenue. On average, 70% of sector turnover comes from online casinos, including slot games such as “Jogo do Tigrinho,” roulette, and card games. The other 30% comes from sports betting, such as wagers on match results, yellow cards, and corners. If online casinos were banned, revenue for betting companies would fall sharply, and sponsorship deals with clubs would come under pressure.
4. The Associação Nacional de Jogos e Loterias (ANJL) has already warned its members. In a note, the group recommended “the review of advertising, marketing and sponsorship contracts currently maintained by companies,” on a “strictly preventive” basis, so they are “prepared to assess and manage possible financial impacts.”
5. These agreements already tend to include force majeure clauses, which matters because this market operates under government regulation that can change. In other words, the contracts were built with some legal weather in mind; the question is how much storm they can take.
6. Brazilian football has become heavily dependent on betting money. Bets entered the market in 2018 through a legal loophole, and investment has risen every year since. In 2024, 18 of the 20 Série A clubs had some betting sponsorship on their shirts, with an estimated R$ 523 million injected that year. By 2026, that figure already exceeds R$ 1 billion. Thirteen clubs now have betting companies as master sponsors, and the main national competitions have a bet as naming rights.

For context, the comparison with state-owned sponsors is telling: over seven years, Caixa Econômica Federal contributed R$ 663,7 million to clubs in Série A and Série B, with as many as 25 teams sponsored at the same time. For PSPs and acquirers watching high-risk verticals, the practical lesson is familiar: when one revenue stream dominates, regulatory changes stop being a policy debate and become a cash-flow problem.