The trial in which the STF Plenary discusses whether or not to maintain two rules of the new “Bets Law” has been interrupted. According to information, the minister of the Federal Supreme Court (STF), Cármen Lúcia, requested a review last Monday (5).
The two rules deal with the prohibition of granting the exploration of lottery services to the same economic group in more than one state and the restriction of advertising of state lotteries to people located within the state’s perimeter.
The sections in question were suspended last October by a preliminary decision by Minister Luiz Fux, at the request of the governors of São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Minas Gerais, Paraná, Mato Grosso do Sul, Acre and the Federal District.
The vote on the injunction was put on the virtual agenda on April 25. However, until the judge’s request for review, only Flávio Dino and the rapporteur, Fux, had voted. Both stated that the injunction should be maintained until the conclusion of the judgment on the merits.
State lotteries and the “Bets Law”: Understand the case
Also known as the Sports Betting Law, the rule has been in force since the end of 2023. The case under analysis only concerns modalities such as number lotteries, numbered tickets and instant lotteries.
In the case of fixed-odds bets, bookmakers are questioning why they do not require tax regularization for the operation of bookmakers in Brazil. Therefore, they are not directly involved in this issue.
In 2024, the Attorney General of the Republic, Paulo Gonet, defended the validity of the contested sections of the “Bets Law”. In turn, the governors claimed that the restrictions imposed by the law reduce the participation of companies in bidding processes and favor an environment of competition between states.
The argument is that some federations tend to lose more than others. States with larger populations, or whose population has greater purchasing power, would be more attractive.
Another justification is the violation of free competition, since lotteries were left without the right to exploit their full advertising potential to attract new users.
A few days before the auction for the concession of lottery services in the state of São Paulo, Fux, the rapporteur of the case, suspended the rules in question. The Plenary then began to analyze whether to maintain the injunction, but the trial was interrupted by a request for review by Dino.
Positioning of ministers
The rapporteur maintained the grounds of his injunction. In turn, Fux argued that, if the restrictions were maintained, the number of interested companies would tend to be smaller.
The minister agreed that companies with the technical conditions to provide more efficient services would have to compete for concessions in more populous and more profitable states. This would, in fact, harm smaller states, which would lose potential revenue and would be forced to sign contracts with companies that are “tendentially less qualified.”
The minister also considered that the Betting Law “takes away from states, without any reasonable justification, the possibility of adopting advertising strategies that best suit their business planning”.
Dino agreed with Fux, but with reservations. He considered that the rule on the activity of concessionaires in only one state is too restrictive. “Excessively invasive of federative autonomy and freedom of initiative”. According to him, “it is disproportionate in relation to other alternatives available to protect competition and consumers”.
