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Brazil Senate Committee Approves Stricter Advertising and Sponsorship Rules for Betting

By jili tutorial · September 4, 2026

Brazil Senate Committee Approves Stricter Advertising and Sponsorship Rules for Betting

Overview of the Proposed Legislation

On Wednesday, the Science and Technology Committee (CCT) of the Brazilian Senate approved a bill that tightens restrictions on advertising and sponsorship by betting operators. The proposal also sets out criteria for classifying betting products by risk level and clarifies the obligations of operators and digital platforms. Critics warn the measure could inadvertently allow the illegal market to expand further, as unauthorized operators would not be bound by the new rules. The committee has requested urgency for a full Senate Plenary vote.

Authored by Senator Damares Alves and six co‑sponsors, Bill 2.470/2026 amends the existing Betting Law that governs fixed‑odds betting. The bill aims to protect mental health, consumer rights, and household finances. Senator Alessandro Vieira, the rapporteur, issued a favorable opinion in the form of a substitute text. “This is a non‑partisan initiative. It comes from society’s current understanding of the extent of the damage caused by so‑called betting,” Vieira stated.

The CCT held a public hearing on Tuesday to discuss the project, drawing divergent views from government representatives and betting industry stakeholders.

Advertising Restrictions

The approved text introduces sweeping prohibitions on marketing for online betting and gambling:

The restrictions do not apply to strictly institutional communications on the operator’s own official channels (e.g., websites, apps, internal platform areas, and customer service). In those spaces, information must be limited to company identification, official contact details, access rules, self‑exclusion and blocking mechanisms, and mandatory warnings. No promises of winnings, bonuses, invitations to bet, or design features intended to attract or retain user attention are permitted.

Operators are also held responsible for any actions taken by affiliates, agencies, influencers, or other third parties paid or incentivized for commercial promotion.

Sponsorship Prohibitions

Betting companies would be barred from sponsoring:

The ban covers brand exposure, naming rights, licensing, ambassadorships, and any other form of promotional association.

A 24‑month transition period is provided for adapting or terminating existing sponsorship contracts. New, renewed, or extended contracts will only be allowed if they expire within that 24‑month window. Sponsorship involving children, adolescents, schools, and youth sports categories is explicitly prohibited.

Additionally, betting brands may not associate with campaigns or projects related to mental health, suicide prevention, financial education, gambling disorder treatment, social assistance, prevention of over‑indebtedness, or protection of vulnerable families.

Player Protection Measures

Operators are prohibited from using data from individuals who have self‑excluded, are undergoing treatment, or have requested marketing blocks, in order to attempt to reactivate them. Repeated or intrusive messages and offers are also banned when directed at users who have reduced their gaming frequency, recorded significant losses, triggered limits, or shown signs of risky behavior.

The bill forbids exploiting situations of economic crisis, unemployment, debt, emotional distress, grief, anxiety, depression, loneliness, or other vulnerabilities to attract, retain, or reactivate gamblers.

Operators must maintain permanent mechanisms for age verification, self‑exclusion, voluntary time and wagering limits, and user‑accessible information on their own gambling behavior. Self‑exclusion must be effective across all authorized operators.

The text also bans the use of credit cards for betting, the use of predictive models to identify moments of greater vulnerability, and platform design features that hinder a user’s conscious decision to stop betting, leave the service, or activate limits and blocks.

Operators must provide permanent alerts about compulsive gambling, indebtedness, and asset loss, and adopt verifiable protocols for identifying risky behavior.

Risk Classification of Betting Products

The proposal establishes criteria for classifying products based on their potential for harm. Factors considered include:

Products offered to the public must undergo prior evaluation by a competent federal authority (to be defined in regulations). High‑risk products will be subject to specific harm‑reduction measures. Products deemed excessively risky may not be offered at all—those include outcomes determined entirely by random mechanisms, continuous cycles, and variable rewards, such as roulette, slot machines, collision games, and simulated virtual sports.

The text also maintains obligations for monitoring and institutional cooperation, requiring operators to provide aggregated and anonymized data to authorities. The executive branch is tasked with monitoring betting impacts, training health professionals, updating care protocols, and periodically disseminating information about the effects of gambling.

Oversight and Enforcement

Application providers, digital platforms, hosting services, and media intermediaries must remove irregular advertisements and campaigns after receiving a notification from the competent authority. The rapporteur’s version requires that notifications clearly and specifically identify any irregular content and guarantee the right to a fair hearing and full defense. Journalistic, academic, parliamentary, artistic, and opinion content are expressly protected.

Operators and companies linked to them are also prohibited from acquiring, licensing, or exploiting rights to sporting events held in Brazil.

In terms of administrative penalties, the rapporteur’s text incorporates new infractions into the existing sanctions system under Law 14.790/2023, which provides for fines of up to BRL 2 billion (approx. USD 392.8 million).

New Criminal Offenses and Quarantine Rules

One of the major changes introduced by Senator Vieira is the creation of a new crime: promoting unauthorized betting operators. The penalty is one to five years of imprisonment, increased by one‑sixth to two‑thirds when the promotion is carried out by a digital influencer, athlete, or well‑known person, due to their greater ability to reach the public.

The rapporteur also added a rule to prevent immediate movement of professionals between betting companies and regulatory bodies. Anyone who has maintained a significant link with an operator or a representative entity in the sector will be barred from assuming certain regulatory functions for 24 months. A reciprocal quarantine period of the same duration applies when moving from a regulatory body to the private sector.