Brazil Betting Ban Draws 58 Amendments as Congress Considers Sports-Betting Carve-Out

Brazil’s sweeping ban on fixed-odds betting is facing growing pressure in Congress, with 58 amendments already filed to Provisional Measure 1,394/2026 and several lawmakers proposing to preserve regulated sports betting while maintaining restrictions on online casino-style games.

Brazil’s Congress is preparing for a major debate over the future of the country’s betting market after lawmakers filed 58 amendments to Provisional Measure 1,394/2026, which currently prohibits the operation, offering, intermediation and advertising of fixed-odds betting nationwide.

The amendment period remains open until October 13, meaning the total could still increase. The measure is now before a joint congressional committee and will enter an urgency regime from November 9. Its initial 60-day consideration period runs until November 23.

The original measure covers both sports betting and online games, ends existing authorizations, requires customer balances and prizes to be returned and prohibits advertising, sponsorship and payment services connected to the prohibited products. Because provisional measures take immediate legal effect in Brazil, the restrictions remain in force while Congress considers whether to approve, reject or modify the text.

Several amendments indicate that part of Congress wants to replace the blanket prohibition with a more targeted model. Amendment 38, submitted by Senator Dr. Hiran, explicitly proposes banning slot-style and other gambling games while allowing fixed-odds betting on real sporting events.

Another proposal, Amendment 14 from Deputy Pedro Aihara, would rewrite the scope of the measure around the prohibition of slot-game betting, rather than the broader ban on all fixed-odds products. A similar Amendment 12 was previously submitted and subsequently withdrawn by its author.

The amendments therefore point to a potentially significant distinction emerging in the parliamentary debate: retaining restrictions on online casino-style games while restoring a regulated market for sports betting. Industry participants, football clubs and other businesses connected to betting sponsorships would be directly affected by such a change, although no compromise has yet been approved.

MP 1,394 remains the governing framework for now, and the filing of amendments does not itself change the prohibition. The next key stage will be the joint committee’s review of the proposals and the eventual votes in the Chamber of Deputies and Senate.

For Brazil’s gambling sector, the debate has therefore shifted from whether the government has imposed a ban to how much of that ban Congress is prepared to preserve. The growing number of amendments suggests the final regulatory model could differ substantially from the measure introduced in September.