Brazil bans fixed-odds betting and its advertising under MP 1.394

Brazil has banned fixed-odds betting under Provisional Measure (MP) 1.394, published on 25 September 2026. The ban covers running, supplying, brokering and promoting it, and applies to sports betting and online games, including when they are run by operators based abroad. Betting sites had to go offline, authorisations end 30 days after publication, and betting advertising is prohibited.

What happened

Art. 1 prohibits fixed-odds lotteries in physical or virtual form, including bets on real sporting events and on virtual online-game events. Other lottery modalities authorised by law are not affected. The ban also reaches state and Federal District concessions.

Under Art. 7, operators had to make their betting sites and apps unavailable ten days after publication, including in app stores, on pain of blocking. The Finance Ministry's schedule has sites and apps unavailable from 6 October. Open bets without a result by then are void and stakes must be refunded in full. Prizes on bets already settled are still owed.

Under Art. 4, authorisations granted under Law 14.790 end 30 days after publication. The MP says the extinction gives operators no right to a refund of the licence fee and no indemnity. New authorisations are barred, and pending applications are rendered moot.

Operators must secure the funds for refunds and send bettor data to banks and to the Secretaria de Prêmios e Apostas (SPA) within two days of going offline. Missing this brings a daily fine of R$200,000 until they comply.

Why it matters

The prohibition extends to promotion. Art. 16 bans communication, advertising, marketing and sponsorship for fixed-odds betting in any physical or digital medium. Under §1, the ban reaches any content that offers, promotes or eases access to betting and is directed at the domestic public, whatever its format or how it is paid for. Advertising material and sponsorship signs had to be removed within ten days of publication.

Art. 17 exempts earlier content that carried betting advertising only incidentally. Art. 18 classes infringements of Arts. 16 and 17 as abusive advertising under the Consumer Defence Code. Infringers face administrative sanctions, including counter-advertising, without prejudice to civil and criminal liability. Authorities may order content suspended as a precaution.

Internet platforms carry a duty of care to prevent banned content circulating, even when third parties generate it. App stores and operating-system providers must also prevent banned products from being made available. Breaches can bring fines of up to 10% of the economic group's domestic turnover. Without turnover, fines are R$10 to R$1,000 per registered user, capped at R$50 million per infringement. Banks and payment institutions are barred from processing betting transactions, apart from closure and refund flows.

What's next

An MP must be reviewed by Congress. Carlos Akira Sato of Syscapital told NEXT.io that if it is not voted on it lapses and Law 14.790 returns. The measure also creates an inter-institutional committee, coordinated by the Casa Civil, to police illegal offer and advertising.

NEXT.io reports that experts expect licensed operators to file compensation claims. Bernardo Cavalcanti Freire, legal adviser to the ANJL, argued the Executive cannot extinguish authorisations by unilateral act and decree that there is no duty to compensate.

Until Congress acts, the ban and the advertising prohibition apply as law.