Zona de Azar Brazil – São Paulo Elections: A Legal Void Would Benefit Betting Houses

Brazil.- September 17, 2024 www.zonadeazar.com Three of the five betting houses offering bets on the municipal elections in Brazil withdrew these options last Sunday (15).

As Estadão reported, betting markets linked to this year’s municipal elections began to be explored by betting houses.

However, while there is no electoral ban, the Ministry of Finance claims that these games are illegal in the country.

A legal void would benefit betting houses

Last Thursday (12), Betano, SportingBet, Bet365, Betspeed, and Superbet were offering bets on who would be the next mayors of São Paulo, Rio, Belo Horizonte, and other capitals. However, by Sunday night (15), the service was only available on Bet365 and Betspeed.

To Correio do Povo, Betano said it would not comment on the matter, and the other four companies did not make any statements. Without clear regulation by the Electoral Court (TSE), companies were offering bets on which candidates would win the elections in each capital.

The Ministry of Finance informed that political betting is not legally permitted to operate in Brazil. “Bets that go beyond these two modalities are not provided for by the legislation and, therefore, cannot be considered legal,” the ministry said in a statement.

However, the ministry did not indicate whether it would take legal action to prevent the holding of politically motivated games.

According to electoral law experts interviewed by Correio do Povo, creating bets on platforms is not a crime because there is a legal void on this matter in Brazilian legislation.

The Superior Electoral Court (TSE), in turn, stated that it would not comment on the issue.

What the law says about betting on elections

Sports betting companies offer “odds” (a term referring to the likelihood of an event occurring) for each candidate’s chances of winning. This index indicates how much the player’s deposit will increase if they win.

Last Wednesday night, one of the betting houses offered the following odds for the city of São Paulo:

1.83 for Ricardo Nunes (MDB) to win
2.20 for influencer Pablo Marçal (PRTB)
5.00 for Guilherme Boulos (PSOL)

With a R$100 bet, for example, a competitor could win R$183, R$220, and R$500, respectively, with the candidates mentioned above.

According to lawyer Fernando Neisser, an expert in electoral law, legal loopholes in electoral law allow companies to profit from elections.

In other words, there is nothing wrong if the bet clearly shows that the game is not a vote, which is prohibited during the campaign, nor an election controlled by the TSE.

“If the odds are published in a way that clearly shows it is a payout probability, calculated exclusively based on how much is bet on each candidate, there is no impediment. I think there is a void in the legislation,” the expert said.

Edited by: @_fonta
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