Brazil Sports Commission approves further restrictions on betting ads
The Brazil Sports Commission on Wednesday approved a proposal to add a number of new restrictions on betting ads in Brazil.
Bill 2,985/2023 received a favourable opinion from Senator Carlos Portinho, who made amendments to the text to remove a total ban on betting advertising.
The Communication and Digital Law Committee (CCDD) would have the final vote on the bill, but as the CCDD hasn’t yet been installed, the bill is expected to be sent directly to the Senate Plenary. If approved there, it will be forwarded to the Chamber of Deputies.
What would be banned in Brazil?
Under Portinho’s substitute bill, betting ads during live broadcasts of sporting events would be banned in Brazil, as well as the use of celebrities such as athletes, artists and influencers.
As an exception, former athletes who ended their careers at least five years prior could be used in advertising.
Advertising on open and subscription television, streaming, social media and the internet would be allowed between the hours of 7.30pm and midnight but banned at all other times.
For radio, betting operators would only be able to advertise between 9am and 11am and between 5pm and 7.30pm.
Additionally, advertising in printed media would be banned, as would static or electronic advertising of fixed-odds betting in stadiums and sports venues, apart from when the operator is the official sponsor of the event or holds the official naming rights of the stadium, as well as when operators are the sponsor of the kits the teams are playing in, although this is limited to one advertiser per team.
Marketing must also display warnings discouraging gambling. They would use the phrase: “Gambling causes addiction and harm to you and your family.”
However, operators would be allowed to advertise on social media platforms or elsewhere on the internet for authenticated users demonstrably over 18 years old. Users must be able to easily disable their receipt of betting advertising or communications.
Operators could also display their brands in announcements promoting the broadcast of sporting events between 9pm and 6am, but only if they don’t contain an invitation, incentive or promise of winnings from betting.
Why have the restrictions on betting ads been approved?
In Portinho’s view, the restrictions are necessary due to the betting sector’s perceived inability to self-regulate its advertising since the regulator, the Secretariat of Prizes and Bets (SPA), introduced Normative Ordinance No 1,231 on advertising in July 2024.
“One year after this law was passed, our society is sick, it is completely addicted to betting,” Portinho said. “Football clubs are addicted to betting. Communication companies are addicted to betting, to advertising, to the money they receive from betting.
“And with this pandemic, it is up to us to impose discipline.”
Portinho referenced a letter signed by several football clubs, in which they shared their fears over further restrictions on betting advertising.
Portinho believes, however, that the Brazilian population is in favour of the new measures. He described football clubs as “accomplices in an epidemic that is destroying families”.
The senator stated he was in favour of the original bill’s intention to completely ban advertising, but he made amendments to avoid legal uncertainty, with the online sector authorised and regulated by previous laws.
The author of the initial bill, Senator Styvenson Valentim, agreed the amendments were fair, saying: “Your vote was balanced. It wasn’t what I wanted, but it achieved its purpose in some points. It creates a balance for us to see how it will behave from now on.
“Maybe we’re giving the market a chance to adapt and a warning to the population that has already seen that this is harmful.”