Brazil’s regulated online betting market faces an existential threat from the very president who brought it into existence just over a year ago.
Lula da Silva, who approved the 2024 Bets Law that formally launched the country’s legal wagering industry on 1 January 2025, now wants that same legislation reversed.
The left-wing president made that intention clear nine days before the first round of voting on 4 October, placing the industry in a state of acute uncertainty heading into polling.
His re-election to a fourth term has now removed any lingering hope that the policy announcement was merely electoral noise that would fade after the campaign.
Lula claimed 51.79% of the vote, defeating Flavio Bolsonaro by a margin exceeding four million ballots, with his rival finishing on 48.21%.
The result was historic for reasons beyond gambling policy, as Lula became the first candidate to win the second round of a presidential election after losing the first, a feat unprecedented since Brazil restored democracy in 1985.
With Lula returning to the Palácio do Planalto, the industry had briefly looked to Flavio Bolsonaro, son of former president Jair Bolsonaro, as a potential source of protection.
As a right-wing politician whose Liberal Party carries recognisable business sympathies, Flavio had criticised Lula’s reversal push as a pre-election political manoeuvre rather than genuine policy conviction.
Yet the Liberal Party never translated those criticisms into a firm, articulated commitment to defending online gambling, leaving operators without a clear political ally on either side of the race.
Flavio himself had at various points considered the possibility of a betting ban, undermining any confidence that a Bolsonaro presidency would have guaranteed the industry’s survival.
The regulatory framework that Brazil spent years developing now sits in a deeply uncomfortable position, built on legislation that its own architect appears determined to dismantle.
For an industry that only began operating under legal conditions eighteen months ago, the prospect of that framework being unwound represents a damaging blow to operator confidence and market investment.
Brazil had been widely regarded across the iGaming sector as one of the most significant emerging regulated markets in the world, making Lula’s reversal stance all the more striking.
The coming months will determine whether any political or legal mechanism exists to shield the Bets Law from a president with both the mandate and the stated motivation to repeal it.
