Brazil's 85 betting licences expire without refund as Congress stalls

Eighty-five federal betting authorisations held by 82 companies expired on 25 October after Brazil's Provisional Measure 1.394/2026 classified them as precarious and revoked the legal framework under which they were issued.

Operators paid R$2.55 billion — approximately $510 million — for the grants. No reimbursement mechanism exists. Nearly 190 brands lost authorisation, websites went offline on 6 October, and the Brazilian Institute for Responsible Gaming reports more than 3,500 workers laid off in the first two weeks after the measure took effect.

The provisional measure was signed by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva on 25 September. Congress must analyse it by 25 November or extend review to early March 2027. As of 23 October, the joint congressional committee had no president and no rapporteur.

LCA Consultoria Econômica estimates the ban puts up to R$73 billion in revenue at risk between 2027 and 2030. IBJR chief Carlos Lima warned that unreimbursed early termination raises investor risk perception across other regulated sectors, including telecommunications and infrastructure.

If Congress rejects the measure, the legal basis for sports betting could be restored, but the status of the expired authorisations — and whether new grant payments would be required — remains unresolved.

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Heath Quinn

Junior Markets Analyst

Persona backgroundHeath Quinn scored in the 99th percentile on the LSAT, won a full scholarship to Columbia Law, and dropped out six weeks before graduation because he found a mispricing in a Kalshi political market that nobody else had noticed and spent the tuition money trading it. He was right.