Brazilian football clubs and state federations have lined up with licensed betting operators to fight President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s online betting ban, warning that the loss of sponsorship money will push clubs into insolvency. Every sports betting website and app must go offline in Brazil from tomorrow, 6 October.
The ban comes through Provisional Measure (MP) 1,394/2026, which Lula signed on 25 September. It stopped new player deposits with immediate effect and gave operators until 6 October to shut down.
Federations call the ban “a fatal blow”
State football federations, including those of São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, signed a joint letter expressing “enormous concern” over the measure. The letter describes the ban as “a fatal blow to Brazilian soccer” and says it would drive clubs into insolvency.
The federations also argue that closing the licensed market will not stop Brazilians from betting. “If the regulated market ends, betting doesn’t end. Soccer is what ends,” the letter said, adding that fans cannot be the ones to pay for the change.
Flamengo president Luiz Eduardo Baptista has put a number on the damage at his club. He said Flamengo stands to lose R$400 million in revenue and would be unable to honour commitments it has already made for next year.
How much betting money is at stake
Série A clubs received R$1 billion ($192 million) in direct advertising from betting companies in 2025, according to figures reported by Reuters. That was 67% more than the previous year and close to 10% of the clubs’ total recurring revenue.
Most of that money is recent. Betting sponsorship grew quickly after Brazil’s regulated fixed-odds market opened on 1 January 2025, and clubs signed shirt and stadium deals with licensed operators on that basis.
Analysts and club representatives expect the measure to force management restructuring at many clubs, because a revenue gap of this size is hard to close in the short term. Flamengo’s warning about next year’s commitments shows where the pressure lands first: 2027 budgets that already count on betting money.
Government response
Lula rejected the clubs’ warnings when asked about them on 28 September.
“In the best moments in the history of Brazilian soccer, there were no betting sites. The clubs will have to figure it out,” Lula said.
A government meeting with football clubs scheduled for 29 September was postponed, and no new date has been set. A person at one of the ministries involved, speaking on condition of anonymity, said support measures such as a subsidised credit line would only be considered once talks with the clubs conclude.
Operators take the fight to court
The clubs’ campaign runs alongside a legal challenge from the industry. The National Association of Games and Lotteries (ANJL) and the Brazilian Institute for Responsible Gaming (IBJR) have asked the Supreme Federal Court (STF) to suspend the MP. The request is still pending.
The ban has already hit listed operators in Europe. Several revised their earnings guidance after the measure was published, with Entain cutting its online revenue outlook within days.
Election pressure
The ban has public support. A Quaest poll found that 62% of Brazilians back restricting online betting.
Lula signed the MP in the final days of the first-round campaign. He then finished second in Sunday’s vote, with 45.16% against 47.03% for Flávio Bolsonaro of the Liberal Party (PL), and the two meet in a runoff on 25 October.
An MP takes effect on publication but lapses unless Congress votes to convert it into law. Lawmakers have already filed amendments to the text, including proposals covering club sponsorships.
What happens next
Licensed sites go dark tomorrow unless the STF intervenes first. The clubs’ next step depends on the postponed meeting with government, and on whether any credit line or sponsorship carve-out appears before their 2027 budgets are locked.
The runoff adds a second clock, and Congress still has to vote on the MP before it lapses. The clubs, federations and operators now share one goal: getting the measure amended or overturned before the money is gone.
Source: Brazilian state football federations
