Brazil Sports Commission questions current gambling ad restrictions, two further bills discussed

CEsp met on Wednesday (9 April) to discuss the two news bills (PL 2,985/2023 and PL 3,405/2023), in response to fears the current rules set out by the Secretariat of Prizes and Bets (SPA) are not sufficiently protecting consumers.

PL 2,985/2023, authored by senator Styvenson Valentim, would introduce a ban on gambling ads across all channels and mediums by amending Article 33 of Law No 13,756/2018, which regulated online betting in Brazil.

Meanwhile, the less restrictive PL 3,405/2023 would ban advertising involving athletes and celebrities, as well as prevent sports teams and influencers from advertising gambling brands.

In Wednesday’s meeting senator Carlos Portinho, the rapporteur of PL 2,985/2023, claimed current regulations on ads in Brazil were reaping “little results” in halting “predatory advertising”.

“We waited a year for [gambling] to be regulated and effectively enforced,” Portinho said. “When I hear that the government has a restrictive ordinance [on advertising], I wonder what they are doing.

“The situation is getting worse. Advertising is massive and is directed at people who are often not even the target audience, like children.”

Current regulations for gambling ads in Brazil

The SPA rolled out its gambling regulations last year, publishing Normative Ordinance No 1,231 in July to set out the rules on ads in Brazil.

The gambling ad rules, most of which came into force when the legal market launched on 1 January, insist all marketing should be guided by social responsibility and the promotion of responsible gambling.

Operators are not allowed to present betting as “socially attractive” and influencers and celebrities are banned from suggesting gambling can lead to personal, social or financial success.

Additionally, sponsorships must clearly identify the operators as the sponsor and refrain from appealing to children.

However, on 6 December last year, the SPA immediately introduced a number of ad restrictions first intended to come into effect once the legal market had launched.

These included a prohibition on advertising aimed at children or adolescents, as well as on platforms where minors make up the majority of the audience.

In addition, all advertisements are required to display an “18+” symbol or include a message informing players games are “prohibited for people under 18”.

During the CEsp hearing, SPA representative Daniele Correa Cardoso said the online sector could be difficult to monitor.

“When we receive a complaint, we carry out an analysis and the team proceeds to open an inspection process to remove the content [that breaches the regulations],” Correa Cardoso said of the process to remove content that does not meet regulations.

“The challenge is precisely the speed at which this happens, considering that we are talking about a digital environment.”

Are the current regulations sufficient enough?

Thiago Henrique Cunha Basílio, who works as a public defender in Rio de Janeiro state, believes current rules are not sufficient in protecting vulnerable players.

“We don’t think it’s enough to have a message saying ‘play responsibly’, as if that were washing our hands and transferring [responsibility] to the individual gambler on whether or not to bet,” he said. Some members of the public are more vulnerable than others, he added.

Although SuperBet Brazil CEO Alexandre Fonseca agreed the risks associated with advertising needed to be highlighted further, he said the illegal market is where the regulator should be focusing its efforts.

“We have 20,000 illegal websites operating in Brazil today, which is where gambling addicts end up finding shelter, where minors end up finding fertile ground to get involved in gambling,” Fonseca said during the commission’s session.

“I think that today we have a much more serious problem, which is the fight against illegal betting.”

Additionally, the National Association of Games and Lotteries’ (ANJL) legal director Pietro Cardia Lorenzoni warned further restrictions (such as those suggested in PL 2,985/2023 and PL 3,405/2023), could further drive players towards the illegal market, using Italy as an example where a blanket advertising ban has led to negative consequences.

“Brazilian consumers still don’t know what is legal and what is illegal,” Cardia said. “Advertising is a way of informing consumers about the legal market.

“[In Italy] the impacts of the ban were negative. Consumers were redirected to the illegal market. This means no consumer protection, no protection for children and adolescents and no funding for public policies.”