Senator Girao calls on reformists to back his bill to ban all incentives based on player behaviours. A new point of conflict emerges in the unsettled path of the Brazil Bets regime, reports SBC Noticias BR’s Editor, Leonardo Biazzi.

The Senate of Brazil has been urged to consider a stringent “tightening of incentives and promotions that induce online gambling”.

The proposal is endorsed by Senator Eduardo Girão (NOVO-CE), who has drafted Bill 1018/2026 carrying amendments to rectify the terms of customer engagement under Law 14,790/2023 – the Brazil Bets Law, the federal framework for online gambling since 1 January 2025.

Girão has pitched his bill to Senate blocs backing significant reforms of the Bets Law, positioning the proposal at a point of inflection ahead of critical judgements on advertising and consumer protections that are expected to define the next course of the Bets market in 2026.

The Senator wants his fellow policymakers to revise the provisions of Article 29 of the Bets Law to impose new “limits on the targeted incentives used by licensed operators to enhance gambling participation”.

The Senator views his proposal as a “principled and economic safeguard” for the Bets market, arguing that the government should limit all forms of gambling inducements to protect consumer spending by reducing excessive engagement.

As such, Senators are being urged to consider an outright ban on cashback offers, VIP promotions, customer loyalty programmes, and competitive mechanisms such as gamified promotions, rankings and challenges.

Article 29 outlines the “harm prevention and player protection” duties of Bets licensees. Current requirements mandate that operators ensure customers can set deposit and spending limits and are notified of self-exclusion services.

Furthermore, operators must inform customers of the risks associated with each product they engage with, alongside providing clear and transparent terms and conditions for any promotions offered.

Girão views these provisions as “soft measures”, arguing that Article 29 should be revised to include a ban on any type of promotion or reward linked to player behaviour, including spend, losses, time and frequency of play.

At present, the Bets framework includes a specific prohibition on sign-up incentives such as bonuses, which cannot be offered by licensed operators. This restriction was imposed by the Ministry of Finance (MF) as a final condition prior to the market launch, banning so-called “bônus de entrada”.

The Ministry applied this measure as a fair-play condition to level the market at launch, preventing operators with prior market presence from leveraging aggressive acquisition incentives.

Though bonuses are not explicitly codified within Article 29, the Bets Law itself does not contain a dedicated section detailing the mechanisms and application of bonuses — a gap that stakeholders have urged the government to address.

Bets on unproven grounds

Industry trade bodies have pushed back against the proposal, warning that unnecessary restrictions could drive players towards the black market by undermining the credibility of licensed Bets offerings. 

Stakeholders highlight the heavy costs associated with customer onboarding since the market launch in January 2025 — costs not borne by illicit operators.

The sector cautions that further limits on engagement tools risk weakening channelisation and the effectiveness of regulated safeguards designed to protect consumers.

Industry representatives also point to government data showing that 53% of players spend no more than R$50 (£7.20) per month, indicating that the majority of activity remains recreational rather than harmful.

The Secretariat of Prizes and Betting (SPA) states that it is aware of the impacts of restricting bonuses and promotional tools, but has yet to present formal recommendations. 

The regulatory body maintains that its core priorities remain the “prevention of pathological gambling and limiting aggressive promotional exposure that may increase consumer risk.” 

Its headline project remains the deployment of Brazil’s national self-exclusion ‘Sistema de Autoexclusão’, officially launched in December 2025.  

The Senate and Congress have yet to settle on the terms of a federal bill governing gambling advertising, which will apply to the Bets market. 

Proposals remain under review, ranging from an outright ban on gambling advertising to the introduction of watershed restrictions on sports programming and limits on influencer marketing.