If you're running betting traffic to Brazil: the licensed GEO has 30 days left. Player funds are refunded by law — banks must process payouts by 14 October. But brands that can't or won't keep a licence aren't necessarily leaving the market: some will likely keep operating grey. Here's the timeline and what it means for traffic.
Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has signed Medida Provisória 1.394, banning fixed-odds betting across the country outright. The measure took effect the moment it was published on 25 September, and all 85 licensed operators now have 30 days to wind down.
The full text is available on the Brazilian government's official portal: Medida Provisória nº 1.394, de 25 de setembro de 2026 (Planalto.gov.br).
The ban covers sports betting and online casino games, including foreign operators serving Brazilian users without a local presence. Players have until 5 October to withdraw their balances before platforms go dark.
What's actually banned
The measure prohibits the operation, offering, intermediation and advertising of fixed-odds betting (apostas de quota fixa) nationwide. That includes:
Sports betting — wagers on real sporting events and matches with an unknown outcome at the time of the bet.
Online casino games — titles where results are determined by an RNG.
The ban applies to both physical and digital formats and extends to state-level authorisations. Other lottery types permitted by law are unaffected.
Timeline for operators and players
From 25 September, operators can no longer accept new deposits — the only exception is funds released from closing out existing player positions.
- By 5 October, 23:59 — players must withdraw remaining balances themselves
- From 6 October — betting sites and apps must go offline
- 7–8 October — operators send banks customer lists and amounts owed
- 9–14 October — banks must refund players to their original accounts
- 30 days after publication — all licences are formally revoked
Any bets not settled by the cutoff are voided and refunded in full. Bets already resolved before the deadline still pay out.
No refunds on licence fees
According to the government, 85 fixed-odds betting licences had been granted in Brazil, each costing R$ 30 million (~$5.7 million) — R$ 2.55 billion paid to the state in total. The MP explicitly bars any refund or compensation, framing the termination as a matter of public interest.
Finance Minister Dario Durigan told a press briefing on 25 September: "Today there are 85 sites and around 180 legal brands. They cease to exist entirely on 5 October. Any other platform will be blocked — we'll trace the money and confiscate what they've collected."
Part of the market was already grey
The government is unlikely to zero out the GEO entirely. According to a study by LCA Consultores and Instituto Locomotiva, between 38% and 44% of Brazil's betting volume was already flowing through unlicensed operators before the MP was even signed — meaning the infrastructure for grey-market play existed well before any ban.
The logic is simple: a licence cost R$ 30 million and came with KYC, tax reporting and advertising restrictions attached. A brand that can't or won't renew its authorisation will very likely keep taking Brazilian players through offshore domains, the same way operators outside the regulated perimeter already do. For affiliates, that means traffic to Brazil probably won't disappear entirely — but the licensed offers with clean reporting and postbacks will, leaving riskier grey schemes with opaque payouts in their place.
How illegal operators will be targeted
The MP creates an inter-agency committee, coordinated by the Civil House, to fight illegal betting. It brings together the Federal Revenue Service, Federal Police, telecoms regulator Anatel, and the Financial Activities Control Council (Coaf).
Anatel gets authority to block domains, app stores must pull betting apps, and banks and payment providers are barred from processing betting-related transactions — except for refunds to players.
The election angle
Brazil's first-round presidential vote is set for 4 October — the MP landed just nine days before polling. Alongside the betting ban, the government unveiled "Desenrola Brasil 3.0", a debt-relief programme buying up roughly R$ 300 billion in overdue household debt with a target of cutting it by 50%. Rollout is planned for 2027, contingent on Lula's re-election.
Brazil's Health Ministry cites a 140% rise in public healthcare (SUS) consultations for gambling addiction between 2018 and 2025 as the main official justification for the ban.
Football clubs, which lean heavily on betting sponsorship — 14 of 20 Série A clubs hold betting deals worth at least R$ 910 million a year — have already flagged concerns over lost revenue.
What happens next
The measure is in force immediately but needs Congressional approval within 120 days (60 days plus one possible 60-day extension), or it lapses automatically. Operators are already signalling legal challenges, arguing the ban breaches concession terms and amounts to expropriation.
Market background
Sports betting was legalised in Brazil in 2018 under then-President Michel Temer (Lei 13.756/2018). Full regulation, including online casino, followed in December 2023 (Lei 14.790/2023). The licensed market launched on 1 January 2025, with operators required to hold authorisation from the Secretariat of Prizes and Bets (SPA) under the Finance Ministry. In its first full year, the regulated market generated roughly R$ 10 billion in tax revenue.
That model is now being dismantled — just 20 months after it went live.
