Brazil’s regulated online gambling industry, which only opened to licensed operators on January 1, 2025, faces an existential political threat after the legislative caucus of President Lula da Silva’s own Workers’ Party formally introduced a bill to repeal the entire legal framework and criminalise the operation of digital betting platforms across the country.
Bill PL-1808/2026, submitted by PT deputy Pedro Uczai and backed by 68 members of the governing party, would repeal all laws and provisions governing online betting introduced under the Bets Law — the regulatory regime that launched Brazil’s licensed market last year — and would mandate internet service providers to block access to all gambling-related websites and applications, require financial institutions to block payments to betting operators, and impose a total ban on gambling advertising across all media and sports sponsorships.
The bill’s stated justification is a surge in consumer debt, mental health harm and financial instability among lower-income households linked to mobile betting. President Lula has openly characterised online gambling as a social problem, saying at various points that he regrets the legalisation and that if it were up to him “all betting activity would be shut down altogether.” The bill now faces review by several committees within the Chamber of Deputies, including the Constitution and Justice Committee.
Industry analysts and responsible gambling advocates have mounted a sharp counter-argument. The Brazilian Institute of Responsible Gambling estimates that illicit betting already accounts for roughly half of Brazil’s wagering activity — around R$40 billion ($7.9 billion) per year — and has warned that prohibition would drive players from the licensed market back to the roughly 27,000 unlicensed sites already active, eliminating the consumer protections, age verification and AML monitoring that regulation enables.
The Receita Federal, Brazil’s tax authority, had estimated the regulated market could generate up to R$13 billion annually in tax revenue, funds currently earmarked for public security, education and sports programmes. Football clubs, which depend heavily on betting sponsorships for shirt and stadium naming rights, are also expected to lobby against the bill.
Most analysts consider an outright ban unlikely to pass, noting the opposition it would face from revenue-dependent government departments and the sports sector, and pointing to Brazil’s constitutional framework around economic freedoms. The more probable outcome, according to Global Gaming Insider, is further regulatory tightening rather than elimination — stricter advertising rules, enhanced responsible gambling requirements, and continued pressure on the GGR tax rate, which is already scheduled to rise to 13 percent in 2026, 14 percent in 2027 and 15 percent in 2028 under previously agreed measures.
Brazil launched its regulated market with 14 operators on full licences and now counts 78 licensed operators running 138 brands, with Betano, Superbet and Bet365 estimated to hold a combined 47 percent market share. Whether the political environment allows that market to mature, or whether it reverses course into a grey zone under a ban, will depend on whether Lula formally endorses the bill and whether it can maintain support as it progresses through committee.
