Brazil bars unauthorized operators and youth targeting under new advertising rules

Brazil has introduced new advertising rules for fixed-odds betting, prohibiting promotions involving unauthorized operators, minors, misleading financial claims, and betting content placed alongside sports editorial coverage.

Interministerial Ordinance MF/SECOM/MJSP No. 73 was published in an extra edition of the Official Gazette on July 10, 2026, and took effect immediately. It was jointly issued by the Ministry of Finance, the Presidency’s Secretariat of Social Communication, and the Ministry of Justice and Public Security.

The rules apply to betting operators and all individuals or companies that produce, sponsor, distribute, broadcast or promote betting advertisements. They require responsible gambling, transparency, good faith, personal data protection and safeguards for minors, vulnerable people and consumers’ mental and financial health.

Advertisements may not display the brands, logos, social media accounts, links or promotional codes of operators that lack authorization from the federal government or the relevant state or Federal District authority. Winning bets, including prizes paid in real currency, cannot be shown.

The ordinance also prohibits betting predictions, strategies or analyses that could encourage wagers on a particular market when placed close to sports editorial content.

Advertisements cannot present betting as income, investment, a solution to financial problems or a way to recover losses. Claims of “easy money,” links between gambling and personal or social success, urgent calls to bet, encouragement of excessive gambling and false information about winning probabilities or the role of skill are also banned.

Betting promotions cannot be associated with illegal, discriminatory or sexualized conduct, or behavior considered offensive to cultural traditions.

All advertising directed directly or indirectly at children and adolescents is considered abusive. Promotions cannot feature people under 18, use content associated with youth culture or appear in schools, medical facilities or psychological care centers.

App stores and operating systems must prevent minors’ accounts from accessing betting apps or applications without age verification. Social media platforms must block gambling advertisements from reaching minors under Article 24 of Law No. 15.211 of November 27, 2025.

Before carrying an advertisement, parties in the advertising chain must verify the operator’s status against the official list maintained by the Secretariat of Prizes and Betting. They must retain the operator’s name, CNPJ tax registration and authorization number, while displaying its identity and authorization clearly on the relevant interface.

An exception applies to the incidental appearance of betting brands or sponsorships during broadcasts of sporting events held abroad, provided they are not deliberately highlighted or commercially exploited.

The National Consumer Secretariat will enforce the rules under the Consumer Protection Code, while the Secretariat of Prizes and Betting will independently supervise operators under Law No. 14.790 of December 29, 2023. The agencies may exchange information.

Violations may lead the Secretariat of Social Communication to consider suspending or canceling an offender’s registration in the National Registry of Advertising Media Agents, or Midiacad, following an administrative process that guarantees a fair hearing, full defense, and a reasoned decision.