Zona de Azar Brazil – Brazil: Law Prohibiting Advertising Outside of States Suspended

Brazil.- October 25, 2024 www.zonadeazar.com Luiz Fux, minister of the Supreme Federal Court (STF), suspended the article of the Sports Betting Law that prohibits advertising lottery services in more than one state.

The decision relates to a lawsuit filed by several governors – from São Paulo, Minas Gerais, Acre, Mato Grosso do Sul, Rio de Janeiro, and the Federal District – challenging two prohibitions of Law No. 13.756/2018, amended by Law No. 14.790/2023: one that restricted the granting of lottery services to the same economic group in more than one state, and another that banned advertising of these services outside the boundaries of the state where they were offered.

They argued that these rules hindered the operation of lottery services in the states, putting at risk the collection of resources to be used for social policies and violating state autonomy.

Fux voted to declare unconstitutional the article of the law that allows advertising only in the state where the service is domiciled.

“It doesn’t seem reasonable that a lottery service from a particular state cannot sponsor an athlete or a professional football team competing in another federation unit or even outside the country,” the minister stated.

The government of São Paulo requested an injunction to suspend the rule after the substantive judgment was delayed at the request of minister Gilmar Mendes. Tarcísio de Freitas, governor of the state, said the measure was urgent due to the lottery services concession auction scheduled for Monday the 28th.

Fux’s decision temporarily suspended these restrictions, stating they harm smaller states, limiting revenue and funding for public policies.

The minister stressed that the states would have the authority to regulate lottery services and that the Union should not treat federal entities differently, “privileging some states over others or privileging itself over the member states.”

For him, it would not be reasonable for a state lottery to be unable to “run a marketing campaign for a match of the Brazilian national football team abroad, simply because the event takes place physically outside the territorial limits of the granting state.”

Therefore, this measure temporarily suspends the effects of the legal restrictions until the final judgment is made by the STF’s Plenary.

Edited by: @_fonta www.zonadeazar.com