Brazil Senate committee backs plan to send betting revenue to military sports

Brazil’s Senate Sports Committee has approved PL 6124/2025, a bill that would redirect part of the revenue collected from licensed fixed-odds betting operators to the country’s military sports system.

Brazil’s Senate Sports Committee has approved Bill PL 6124/2025, a proposal that would allocate part of the revenue collected from fixed-odds betting to the National Military Sports Subsystem. The bill was introduced by Senator Leila Barros and seeks to amend Law No. 13,756/2018, which regulates the distribution of revenues from lottery and betting activities.

The proposal does not create a new tax on betting operators. Instead, it redirects 1% of the betting revenue already assigned to the Ministry of Sports to the Brazilian Military Sports Commission, which is linked to the Ministry of Defense and is responsible for military sports programmes. According to the Senate’s explanation of the bill, this would not increase total public spending.

The measure was approved by the Sports Committee on May 6 and has now moved to the Senate Economic Affairs Committee, where it is awaiting the appointment of a rapporteur. The bill is still under consideration and has not yet become law.

Supporters of the proposal argue that military sports already play an important role in Brazil’s wider sports system. The bill’s author says the funds could support high-performance sport, Paralympic programmes and social projects involving children and people with disabilities. Senator Chico Rodrigues, who reported the bill in the Sports Committee, said the initiative could help maintain and expand military sports projects linked to Olympic and Paralympic performance as well as social inclusion.

Industry media reported that the estimated financial impact would be limited for the betting sector, since the measure reallocates existing public revenue rather than increasing the tax burden. According to figures discussed during the legislative process, for every R$1,000 collected from betting taxation, around R$0.30 to R$0.40 could be directed to military sports.

The proposal comes as Brazil continues to shape the financial architecture of its newly regulated betting market. Since licensed operators began operating under the federal fixed-odds betting framework, lawmakers have increasingly debated how betting revenue should be divided among sport, public policy and other state-backed programmes.

For Brazil’s gambling sector, PL 6124/2025 is another sign that betting taxation will remain a politically sensitive issue. Even if the bill does not raise operators’ direct tax burden, it shows that revenue from licensed betting is likely to be repeatedly targeted for new public allocations as the regulated market matures.