Online Casinos in Brazil

The Legal Position

Online casino play is prohibited in Brazil. Medida Provisória nº 1.394, de 25 de setembro de 2026 states that "the exploitation, offering, intermediation and advertising of fixed-odds betting lotteries, physical or virtual" are prohibited in the national territory, "including when carried out by an agent based abroad offering them to a person located in the national territory". Its first article's opening paragraph is explicit that the prohibition reaches both real sporting events and "eventos virtuais de jogos on-line" — the statutory category that online casino games sat in.

The Law by Name

Until 2026 Brazil ran a licensed market. Lei nº 14.790, de 29 de dezembro de 2023 provided that fixed-odds betting "serão exploradas em ambiente concorrencial, mediante prévia autorização a ser expedida pelo Ministério da Fazenda" — exploited in a competitive environment under prior authorisation from the Ministry of Finance. The same law defined a "jogo on-line" as an electronic channel for virtual betting on a game whose outcome is determined by a random generator of numbers, symbols, figures or objects, which is how online casino content entered the federal framework.

Medida Provisória nº 1.394/2026 changes that. Its Article 4 extinguishes concessions, permissions and authorisations granted under Lei nº 14.790 "ao término do prazo de trinta dias, contado da data de publicação desta Medida Provisória" — at the end of thirty days from publication. Article 6 provides that from the date of publication no new concessions, permissions or authorisations may be granted, and that undecided applications lapse. Article 7 requires authorised operators to make their sites and apps inaccessible ten days after publication, and Articles 8 and 9 set out how player balances and settled prizes are to be returned.

The Regulator

The federal body is the Secretaria de Prêmios e Apostas (SPA) of the Ministério da Fazenda, which describes its own function as to "autorizar, conceder, regulamentar, normatizar, monitorar, supervisionar, fiscalizar e sancionar as empresas do setor". The measure does not abolish it: Article 5 confirms that the extinction of authorisations "não prejudica o exercício das competências de supervisão e fiscalização da Secretaria de Prêmios e Apostas do Ministério da Fazenda". The SPA is accordingly the named authority over a prohibited activity rather than a licensing authority for a live one.

Sub-National Variation

Several Brazilian states and the Federal District had issued their own fixed-odds lottery concessions. Article 2 of the measure applies it "à exploração de loterias de aposta de quota fixa nos Estados e no Distrito Federal", and its first paragraph provides that state and district concessions, permissions and authorisations "serão extintas no prazo previsto no art. 4º" — on the same thirty-day clock as the federal ones. There is, on the face of the measure, no surviving sub-national route to a licensed online casino.

What Is Available Instead

Nothing is available instead, and there is less than there was. Medida Provisória nº 1.394 of 25 September 2026 prohibits the exploitation, offering, intermediation and advertising of fixed-odds betting lotteries across the national territory, and extinguishes federal, state and district authorisations thirty days after publication. The Secretaria de Prêmios e Apostas is accordingly the named authority over a prohibited activity rather than a licensing authority for a live one.