Brazilian Senate Hearing Examines Surge in Betting Advertising During the 2026 FIFA World Cup

On July 2, Brazil’s Senate held an open session dedicated to the explosive growth of betting advertising during the 2026 FIFA World Cup broadcast. Members of the CAS and CDH committees considered the economic and social implications of online betting in Brazil.

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Some senators argued that there was too much promotion of bets from the moment the sector was legalized and called for tighter regulations of betting promotion campaigns. The discussion also involved the consequences of gambling for household finance, vulnerable populations, and consumer rights.

Senators Propose Stricter Rules

Chairman of the hearing, Senator Eduardo Girão noted the expansion of gambling as a national problem and repeated his opposition to the law that legalized betting in Brazil.

“Today, we will discuss the development of regulated economic activity, the social and financial consequences of which have a detrimental effect on productive activity, families and public health. It is present in mobile communication devices, social networks, sports broadcasts, regular advertising, and in the life of vulnerable populations.”

According to the press release issued by the Senate Agency, Girão also insisted that it was necessary to repeal Brazil’s Betting Law. In turn, Senator Damares Alves, who chaired the second half of the session, stated: “Families are visiting the offices of lawmakers worried about problem gambling.”

The panel also heard Roberto Lasserre, National Coordinator of Movimento Brasil sem Azar, and lawyer and activist Juliana Prates Coimbra, who presented her own family experience after losing her brother to gambling disorder and criticized the insufficient reaction of the authorities to the issue.

Experts Stress the Public Health Problem

Gabriella de Andrade Boska, Coordinator of the Department of Mental Health, Alcohol and Other Drugs at Brazil’s Ministry of Health, stated that the authorities recognized the gambling disorder as a public health problem.

“We have people diagnosed with gambling disorder, having an established level of severity, and cases have been registered since 1982. However, it becomes obvious that since gambling has been available on digital and online platforms, the number of such diagnoses increased and resulted in a direct impact on the services provided by Brazil’s Unified Health System (SUS).”

Boska added that over 25 million Brazilians gambled in 2025, with 4.4% of them suffering from the symptoms of gambling disorder. Also, problem gambling not only affects the individual but also approximately six people who surround him or her, while the risk of committing suicide is 15 times higher, especially if debts accompany it. There is also a direct correlation between gambling addiction and domestic violence.

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According to the Ministry of Health of Brazil, the number of gambling disorder treatments through the SUS has risen 140% between 2018 and 2025.

Gambling and Consumer Protection

Fabio Macorin, Deputy Secretary of Prizes and Betting at the Secretariat of Prizes and Betting (SPA/MF), stressed that the licensed betting operators were obliged to control the behavior of customers and take any measures in case of the manifestation of problem gambling.

Responsible gambling measures might include warnings about risky behavior, restrictions on platform usage, and even exclusion of users in extreme cases. Macorin insisted that these measures could be implemented with the help of technological monitoring, rather than with the help of manual monitoring.

According to the mental health specialist Hermano Tavares of the University of São Paulo (USP), online gambling raises the risk of developing the addiction because of the availability of gambling around-the-clock.

“We need to implement practices that help to reduce the risk of gambling. Universal measures that are already implemented – it is the use of CPF (Brazilian taxpayer identification number) to register bettors.”

“It is necessary to regulate the hours and limits of betting. One cannot spend more than 1% of the daily income on bets or more than 4% of the monthly income.”

In turn, Executive Director of Procon-SP Luiz Orsatti Filho stressed that the gambling market in Brazil grew much faster than was expected earlier and complained about the recurring consumer complaints regarding account blocking, problems with withdrawing money, delays in the receipt of winnings, poor customer service, and misleading and aggressive betting advertisement practices.

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Source: SBC Noticias