Brazil will require health-style warnings on every betting advertisement and ban operators from presenting bets as easy money from July 17, Finance Minister Dario Durigan said on Thursday, two days before the World Cup final and its heavy betting sponsorship.
The rules arrive through two ordinances the Ministry of Finance published on Friday. The first sets the advertising restrictions. The second, issued jointly with the Ministry of Justice, targets operators running without a licence. Both take effect on July 17.
Warnings modelled on cigarette and alcohol labels
Every betting advertisement will have to carry a Ministry of Finance warning, in the same way cigarette and alcohol advertising already does in Brazil. The approved messages are direct: betting makes you lose money, betting can cause addiction, and betting is not an investment.
The advertising ordinance also bars operators from creating a sense of urgency, presenting betting as an investment or financial solution, showing winnings or prize histories as an incentive, or otherwise misleading consumers. Brazil’s regulated market booked roughly $7 billion in GGR in its first regulated year, and advertising has driven much of that growth.
“We are imposing restrictions on betting advertisements in the country,” Durigan told journalists. “I don’t need to state, as it goes without saying, that we have zero tolerance for illegal operators. Neither advertisers nor media outlets are permitted to run any advertising involving a company not authorised to operate in the market.”
Commentators barred from steering bets
The rules also reach the people who talk about matches on air. Commentators, experts and play-by-play announcers may not use their authority to encourage betting, and cannot mix technical analysis with a recommendation to place a specific bet.
“It is not permissible to mix commentary from an expert or specialist, someone knowledgeable about a specific game or subject, with statements claiming that a particular bet is the best choice or that a specific path should be taken, thereby inducing the consumer to adopt a certain practice under the guise of technical backing,” Durigan said. “No displaying winnings as bait. No selling betting as a way to make easy money, or as an investment or financial solution for families.”
The government said it will also target third parties in the advertising chain that amplify messages inducing gambling, not just the operators themselves.
Fines of up to 20% of revenue
Non-compliance carries fines of up to 20% of an operator’s revenue and a 180-day suspension. A serious repeat offence can cost a company its authorisation to operate. National Consumer Secretary Ricardo Morishita said the maximum fine, around BRL14 million ($2.7 million), could fall on anyone running illegal betting advertising.
Operators will also be penalised when a contracted influencer runs an advertisement that breaks the rules, and the offending content can be taken down. The measures build on a June decree, signed by President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, that lets the government freeze funds from companies operating illegal betting platforms.
Enforcement already under way
Durigan said the government has taken down 56,000 betting sites and nearly 1,000 influencer profiles, and has forced the self-exclusion of close to a million bettors who fell foul of statutory bans. A Supreme Court ruling prevents beneficiaries of government welfare programmes from accessing betting sites, a restriction that also covers people enrolled in Desenrola, the Lula administration’s debt renegotiation scheme.
According to the minister, licensed operators have themselves been reporting illegal competitors. The clampdown follows earlier moves in which Lula called for a ban on online betting platforms, reflecting the administration’s hardening stance on the sector.
Durigan set the new rules against a short regulatory history: authorisation to operate came in 2018 but without rules, Congress set general rules in 2023, the Ministry of Finance created the Secretariat of Prizes and Bets to oversee the sector in 2024, and the government began collecting licensing fees and enforcing rules in 2025.
The timing puts the industry on notice days before one of the year’s biggest betting events. With the World Cup final on July 19, operators and broadcasters have a narrow window to bring campaigns, sponsorship activations and on-air commentary into line or risk the first penalties under the new regime.
Source: Brazilian Ministry of Finance
