Brazil’s betting ban could die in Congress, or fall to the ballot box

Congress could kill the ban, or a Bolsonaro win could reverse it

Illegal iGaming operators in Brazil jumped 74% in the 24 hours after President Lula da Silva issued a decree banning regulated online betting, and the measure’s own legal design may decide how long the ban lasts.

The decree took the form of a provisional measure, a Brazilian instrument that lets the president impose temporary rules with the force of law until Congress votes on them. Lawmakers can shoot the measure down in the coming weeks, and if they do not, the election could. The presidential vote is set for 4 October, with Lula da Silva and Fabio Bolsonaro the top candidates in voting-intention polls, and the Bolsonaro family has historically backed sports betting. A Bolsonaro win could therefore reverse the prohibition even if Congress leaves it standing.

The measure was introduced on 25 September, a week before the election. Illegal operators numbered 331 the day before the announcement and 575 by 26 September, an increase of 244, according to Bet Legal monitoring data shared by Hebara executive director Amilton Noble. Bet Legal counted 102 illegal platforms on 21 September, so the week carried the count from 102 to 575.

Noble said the surge followed the decree almost immediately: “The illegal gang is lying down and rolling. It will get worse.” Hebara sells technology to Brazil’s lottery sector, so the figures come from an industry with a stake in opposing the ban and have not been independently verified. Noble also cited almost 700 illegal sites over a 48-hour window, a wider count than the daily Bet Legal series.

Brazil built its licensed online gambling market from nothing to the sixth-largest in the world by value in under two years, according to Blask data cited alongside the monitoring figures. Industry figures argue the ban reverses that progress days before voters decide who holds the office that issued it.

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