Brazilian Senate Committee Approves Amended Bill Restricting Betting Advertisements
An amended bill aimed at prohibiting advertisements during live sports broadcasts and limiting the times operators can advertise is heading to the Senate floor.
The Sports Committee approved a proposal this Wednesday to add a series of new restrictions to betting advertisements in Brazil.
Bill 2.985/2023 received a favorable opinion from Senator Carlos Portinho, who made alterations to the text to remove the total ban on betting advertising.
The Committee on Communication and Digital Law (CCDD) was expected to conduct the final vote on the bill, but as it has not yet been installed, the bill is expected to be sent directly to the Senate floor. If approved there, it will be forwarded to the Chamber of Deputies.
What Would Be Prohibited in Brazil?
According to Portinho’s substitute bill, betting advertisements during live broadcasts of sporting events would be prohibited in Brazil, as would the use of celebrities, such as athletes, artists, and influencers.
The exception would be former athletes who finished their careers at least five years prior, who could be used in advertisements.
Advertising on free-to-air and subscription television, streaming services, social media, and the Internet would be permitted between 7:30 PM and midnight, but prohibited at all other times.
For radio, betting operators could only advertise between 9:00 AM and 11:00 AM and between 5:00 PM and 7:30 PM.
Furthermore, advertising in print media would be prohibited, as would static or electronic advertising of fixed-odds betting in stadiums and sports venues, except when the operator is the official sponsor of the event or holds the official naming rights to the stadium, as well as when operators are sponsors of the kits of the teams that are playing, although this would be limited to one advertiser per team.
Advertising will also be required to display warnings discouraging gambling. The following phrase would be used: “Gambling causes addiction and harms you and your family.”
However, operators would be permitted to advertise on social media platforms or anywhere else on the internet to authenticated users proven to be over 18 years of age. Users must be able to easily opt out of receiving advertising or betting communications.
Operators may also display their brands in advertisements promoting the broadcast of sporting events between 9:00 PM and 6:00 AM, but only if they do not contain an invitation, incentive, or promise of betting winnings.
Why Were the Restrictions on Betting Advertisements Approved?
In Portinho’s opinion, the restrictions are necessary due to the perceived inability of the betting sector to self-regulate its advertising since the regulatory body, the Secretariat of Prizes and Bets (SPA), enacted Normative Ordinance No. 1.231 on advertising in July 2024.
“One year after the approval of this law, our society is sick, it is completely addicted to betting,” said Portinho. “Football clubs are addicted to betting. Communication companies are addicted to betting, advertising, money they receive from bets.
And with this pandemic, it is up to us to impose discipline.”
Portinho referenced a letter signed by several football clubs, in which they shared their fears regarding further restrictions on betting advertising.
Portinho believes, however, that the Brazilian population is in favor of the new measures. He described football clubs as “accomplices in an epidemic that is destroying families.”
The senator stated that he was in favor of the original bill’s intention to completely prohibit advertising, but made alterations to avoid legal uncertainties, with the online sector authorized and regulated by previous laws.
The author of the initial bill, Senator Styvenson Valentim, agreed that the alterations were fair, saying: “Your opinion was balanced. It wasn’t what I wanted, but it achieved its purpose in some respects. This creates a balance so that we can see how it will behave from now on.
Perhaps we are giving the market a chance to adapt and a warning to the population that has already seen that this is harmful.”
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