Brazil's 85 betting licences may lapse on 25 October with no refund

The 85 federal authorisations held by 82 companies run for five years. The 30-day period in article 4 of Provisional Measure 1.394/2026 ends on 25 October, before Congress has voted on the text, BNLData reported. The government published the measure on 25 September, called the authorisations precarious and banned betting offers and advertising. Each authorisation cost R$30 million. BNLData said the industry body IBJR’s warnings come from reporting by another outlet.

The details

• Money paid: authorisation fees came to R$2.55 billion in total, and operators paid in about R$7.5 billion of share capital, according to IBJR chief executive Carlos Lima.
• Jobs: a survey by the gaming association ANJL counted more than 3,500 dismissals in the measure’s first 14 days.
• Unlicensed sites: the ANJL’s monitoring tool found 221 new unlicensed addresses between 9 and 12 October, bringing its total to 30,844.

What’s next

A joint congressional committee had not been installed by 23 October, BNLData said. The measure starts blocking the agenda of the chamber handling it on 9 November. Excluding recess, Congress has until early March 2027 to vote.

IBJR and ANJL filed a case at the Supreme Court on 28 September asking for the measure to be suspended until a new public hearing or a vote by Congress. Justice Luiz Fux has not ruled on the request, and no trial date is set.