In a landmark transfer, Brazil’s Senate has handed Bill PL 2.985/2023, introducing sweeping restrictions on how fixed-odds sports activities betting will be marketed throughout the nation. Initially proposed as a whole ban on playing promotion, the invoice has been reshaped to impose focused limitations on promoting practices, together with using public figures, stay broadcast placements, and in-stadium branding.
Spearheaded by Senator Styvenson Valentim and refined by Senator Carlos Portinho, the invoice goals to handle what lawmakers are calling a public well being disaster pushed by extreme publicity to playing adverts. “A year after the law passed, our society is sick—totally addicted to bets,” mentioned Portinho. “Football clubs are addicted. Media companies are addicted to the money from bets.”
The laws now awaits additional evaluation and approval within the Chamber of Deputies, with an pressing request already positioned to expedite its evaluation.
Influencers and In-Stadium Ads Among Main Targets
The invoice explicitly prohibits using photos of athletes, influencers, artists, and public figures in sportsbook commercials. Exceptions apply solely to former athletes who’ve been retired for at the least 5 years, following a proposal from Senator Romário to present struggling ex-players with potential earnings alternatives. “This could help them,” Romário mentioned, emphasizing that many should not financially safe.
Advertising inside stadiums and sports activities arenas can also be restricted. Betting operators will solely be allowed to show adverts in these venues if they’re official sponsors of the membership, competitors, or facility. The transfer has drawn robust opposition from greater than 50 Brazilian soccer golf equipment, who warned of a projected annual income lack of R$1.6 billion. “The ban on displaying operators’ brands… removes crucial revenue streams from the clubs,” learn a joint assertion.
Portinho countered these claims by pointing to the sector’s poor monetary administration. “The clubs have been financially broken for a long time due to poor management,” he mentioned, including that the invoice’s aim is to cut back ambush advertising and marketing and emphasize legit sponsorships.
Advertising Hours and Content Restrictions
The invoice enforces strict time home windows for sportsbook commercials. TV, streaming, and web adverts are restricted to between 7:30 p.m. and midnight. On radio, adverts could air from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. and from 5 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Betting promotions throughout stay sports activities broadcasts might be permitted solely quarter-hour earlier than and after the occasion.
Content restrictions are equally stringent. Ads can not painting betting as a path to private success, monetary stability, or job alternate options. Visual components equivalent to animations, mascots, or AI-generated characters concentrating on minors are additionally banned. Betting adverts should embody the warning: “Gambling causes addiction and harm to you and your family.”
Sponsorship Rules and Platform Liability
Under the brand new framework, betting firms are forbidden from sponsoring referees or match officers. Logos could seem on workforce uniforms provided that gamers are over 18, and youth-sized jerseys can not show playing branding. Sponsorship of cultural, information, or sports activities applications will stay permissible, offered it doesn’t embody promotional content material or incentives to guess.
Digital platforms and advertisers should act rapidly to take away unlawful adverts upon notification from the Finance Ministry. Failure to accomplish that will end in shared authorized legal responsibility, additional reinforcing the federal government’s push to management playing publicity on-line.
Lawmakers Call for Accountability and Future Action
Senator Leila Barros, President of the Senate’s Sports Commission, mentioned the widespread nature of betting adverts introduced “absolutely nothing” optimistic. “In fact, it brought a lot of people with addiction problems, higher suicide rates,” she famous.
Styvenson Valentim, the invoice’s authentic writer, acknowledged that whereas the ultimate model was a compromise, it nonetheless sends a robust message. “We couldn’t cut the problem at the root, but we trimmed it to see what happens,” he mentioned. “This may be a warning to the market and the public that betting is harmful.”
Senator Eduardo Girão, who had pushed for an entire ban beneath a separate proposal, supported the adopted restrictions, evaluating playing habit to nicotine. “It’s self-cannibalism,” he mentioned, referring to the dependence of golf equipment and media on betting income.
The permitted textual content now strikes to the Chamber of Deputies for additional deliberation.
Source:
Senate Sports Committee restricts advertising of ‘Bets’ in stadiums and bans influencers, gamesbras.com, May 28, 2025.
