CEsp: Guests Skeptical About Betting Advertising Restrictions

Brazil – April 11, 2025 – www.zonadeazar.com During a public hearing of the Sports Commission (CEsp) on Wednesday (9), senators and experts questioned the effectiveness of legal restrictions on betting advertisements, which fully took effect in January 2025. Participants in the hearing pointed out that the timeframe for analyzing the regulations was too short.

The debate will inform discussions on two bills that seek to tighten advertising regulations in the online sports betting sector (PL 2,985/2023 and PL 3,405/2023).

Senator Carlos Portinho (PL-RJ), rapporteur of PL 2,985/2023 and author of one of the requests for the hearing, stated that the bill is a parliamentary response to the “few results” achieved by the federal government in trying to curb what he considers “predatory advertising.” Portinho also questioned the effectiveness of filters that block children and teenagers, who are legally prohibited from gambling.

— My 15-year-old son said, “Do you think someone my age tells their real age?” We waited a year for [betting] to be regulated and effectively enforced. When I hear that the government has a restrictive ordinance [on advertising], I wonder what they are doing. The situation is worsening: advertising is massive and often targets those who are not even the intended audience, such as children, — said the senator.

The hearing was led by Senator Leila Barros (PDT-DF), president of CEsp.

Government Actions

The Secretariat of Prizes and Betting (SPA) of the Ministry of Finance is responsible for creating regulations and overseeing the sector. Ordinance 1231, issued in July 2024, establishes rules for online betting advertisements. However, all regulations initiated in 2024 went through a transition period—which led to the authorization of about 90 companies—and only fully came into effect this year. Online betting has been allowed since 2018.

SPA representative Daniele Correa Cardoso stated that the legislation already includes several tools suggested by parliamentarians and guests during the meeting. These include facial recognition to prevent minors from betting and the prohibition of linking bets to easy gains, extra income, or investments.

— [Since] January, we have been concerned with monitoring and oversight. Whether proactively or when we receive a complaint, we conduct an analysis, and the team proceeds with opening a regulatory process to remove content [that violates the rules]. The challenge is the speed at which this happens, considering we are dealing with a digital environment, — she explained.

Daniele also pointed out that advertising in the betting sector has significant participation from the National Council for Advertising Self-Regulation (Conar), which promotes industry self-regulation. According to her, the SPA’s partnership with Conar has been “highly effective.”

Insufficient Warnings

Public defender Thiago Henrique Cunha Basílio, from Rio de Janeiro, believes that betting advertisements do not adequately convey the emotional and financial risks involved in gambling.

— We cannot have this rampant advertising as we have seen. It is not enough to simply have a message saying “play responsibly,” as if that absolves responsibility, shifting the burden entirely to the individual bettor. This is even more dangerous for lower-income classes, who are more vulnerable to this type of expense.

SuperBet Brazil CEO Alexandre Fonseca agreed that communication about the potential harms of gambling needs to be improved. However, he believes the real challenge is tackling unauthorized betting companies that do not comply with advertising regulations.

— Today, we have 20,000 illegal betting sites operating in Brazil, which is where gambling addicts find refuge, and where minors find an easy gateway to gambling. I think we have a much bigger problem today, which is combating illegal betting.

Rodrigo Saraiva Marinho, executive director of the Free Market Institute, argued that advertising restrictions should not be based solely on potential addiction cases.

— If we prohibit addiction, we are prohibiting people from choosing what they want to do with their own lives. A fundamental aspect of freedom is allowing people to make mistakes and decide for themselves what they will or won’t do, — he reasoned.

Reverse Effect

Pietro Cardia Lorenzoni, legal director of the National Association of Gaming and Lotteries (ANJL), argued that prohibiting or excessively restricting betting advertisements could harm consumers by making it harder to identify government-authorized companies. He cited Italy’s experience in banning gambling advertising in 2018, which led to negative consequences.

— Brazilian consumers still do not know which games are legal and which are illegal. Advertising informs consumers about the legal market. [In Italy], the impacts were negative with the ban. Consumers turned to the illegal market, meaning no consumer protection, no child and youth protection, and no funding for public policies.

Law 14,790 of 2023 stipulates that 12% of betting companies’ revenue (after paying winnings and income tax) must be allocated to various sectors, including sports. Brazilian Olympic Committee (COB) vice president Yane Marques stated that the committee received its first resources in March.

Influencers

Senator Styvenson Valentim (PSDB-RN), author of PL 2,985/2023, originally intended to ban all betting advertisements to prevent influencers and celebrities from excessively increasing the number of new bettors.

— [An influencer] can make people buy the product they endorse. If [soccer player] Cristiano Ronaldo uses a certain shampoo, people will use it to try to look like him. That’s how marketing works. [Companies] have the financial and legal means to make it happen; we just want to reduce the impact of influence on people who are too weak to avoid gambling.

Portinho modified the original text to allow advertising but with restrictions on its reach and content. The prohibition on influencers and celebrities participating in gambling advertisements remains in the bill.

Senator Sérgio Petecão’s (PSD-AC) report on PL 3,405/2023 maintains the ban on athletes appearing in betting advertisements. Celebrity involvement in gambling promotion is also under investigation by the Parliamentary Inquiry Commission on Bets (CPI das Bets).

Football Clubs

Senator Jorge Kajuru (PSB-GO) stated that he would reject any “radical” solutions on the topic. According to him, television networks and football clubs currently depend on revenue from betting advertisements.

— All [TV network] executives spoke with me, and the conclusion is that if advertising ends, the only network that survives is Rede Globo. The others will go bankrupt. We would also create a terrible financial situation for football clubs, which no longer have other companies to sponsor them, — he warned.

Statistics

Approximately 10.9 million Brazilians over 14 years old (6.9% of this population) gamble “problematically,” and one in eight of them exhibits betting patterns consistent with addiction. These figures were presented by psychiatrist Christina Hajaj Gonzalez from the Federal Council of Medicine, based on a study this week by the São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP).

She also noted that, according to the study, 4% of people who gambled last year were between 14 and 17 years old—an age group highly susceptible to addiction. In response to Senator Romário (PL-RJ), she stated that “neither the public healthcare system, private health providers, nor supplementary healthcare services” have the infrastructure to handle the estimated number of gambling addicts.

Agência Senado (Reproduction authorized with citation of Agência Senado)
Source: Agência Senado

Editor: @_fonta – www.zonadeazar.com