Brazil Senate Committee Approves Sweeping Betting Advertising Bill

Brazil’s Science and Technology Committee (CCT) has approved a bill that proposes broad restrictions on betting advertising and sponsorship, moving the country a step closer to one of the world's strictest regulatory regimes for gambling marketing. The committee voted in favour of Bill 2.470/2026, authored by Senator Damares Alves and six colleagues, which seeks to amend the 2023 Betting Law.

The approval came via a substitute text presented by Senator Alessandro Vieira, following a public hearing on Tuesday where government and industry representatives expressed divergent opinions. The CCT has also requested that the bill be considered with urgency by the Senate Plenary, where it will now be debated by the full chamber.

Comprehensive Marketing Ban

The approved text outlines a near-total prohibition on direct and indirect betting marketing. The ban would cover television, radio, print, and outdoor media, as well as digital channels including streaming services, podcasts, social networks, applications, websites, and search engines. Further prohibitions extend to SMS, email, algorithmically targeted advertisements, telemarketing, and marketing based on behavioural profiling.

Promotion through affiliates, tipsters, and comparison sites would also be barred. The only permitted communication would be strictly institutional messaging on an operator's own official channels, limited to brand identification, access rules, and mandatory warnings. Messaging that portrays betting as risk-free or as a method to recover losses would be forbidden.

Sponsorship and Broadcasting Rights

Under the proposed legislation, all sponsorship deals with sports clubs, federations, leagues, and broadcast events would be banned outright. The prohibition would also apply to cultural events and partnerships with individual influencers, athletes, and celebrities. Promotion on sports uniforms and public transport would also be disallowed.

To manage the transition, existing sponsorship contracts would be granted a 24-month window to be adapted or terminated. Any new sponsorship agreements signed after the law passes could only be for terms that expire within this 24-month adaptation period. Furthermore, the bill would bar operators and their linked companies from acquiring or licensing the rights to sporting events held in Brazil.

Product and Bonus Restrictions

The bill also targets customer incentives, prohibiting bonuses, free bets, cashback offers, free spins, and loyalty programmes designed to encourage sign-ups, player retention, or reactivation. In a significant product-level intervention, the legislation introduces risk-classification criteria for betting products. It would explicitly bar games deemed to have excessive risk features, such as roulette, slot machines, and simulated virtual sports.

Operators would be held responsible for any promotional activities conducted on their behalf by affiliates, agencies, or influencers. The bill also mandates that internet platforms and hosting services must remove flagged advertising after receiving formal notice, though a right of defence is included. While the CCT vote itself carries no penalty, violations of the finalised law would fall under the existing administrative sanctions of Law 14.790/2023, which permit fines of up to BRL2 billion (£308.8m).