Brazil’s Betting Ban Hits Counter-Strike as Congress and Runoff Decide Its Fate

Brazil’s licensed betting sites went dark on Oct. 6 under a ban that also outlaws betting sponsorship, and the money has started leaving Brazilian Counter-Strike 2 while Congress and an Oct. 25 presidential runoff decide whether the ban survives.

Provisional Measure 1,394 , signed by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva on Sept. 25, bans the operation, offering, intermediation and advertising of fixed-odds betting, online and in person. Article 16 extends the ban to “communication, advertising, promotion, marketing and sponsorship” related to betting “in any medium, physical or digital,” and covers any such content aimed at the Brazilian public (TEA translation). Advertising material and sponsor branding had to come down within 10 days of publication.

The measure also cancels every federal betting license 30 days after publication. Operators get no refund of the R$30 million BRL ($5.8 million USD) license fee, and no compensation. According to InfoMoney , the government had collected R$2.5 billion ($482 million) in license fees since the market was regulated.

Reuters reported , citing the Finance Ministry, that Brazilian households put about R$60 billion ($11.6 billion) a year into online betting, which generates about R$10 billion ($1.9 billion) in tax revenue. On Wednesday, EstrelaBet’s Brazilian domain redirected to a government page headed “Brasil sem Bets.”

EstrelaBet was the main sponsor of Vivo Keyd Stars, which became the first Brazilian Counter-Strike organization to step back.

On Sept. 30, Keyd Stars said it was pausing its CS2 project indefinitely and releasing its players. It cited “recent changes in the competitive landscape and in the country’s business and regulatory environment,” according to HLTV’s translation . Dust2 Brasil tied the decision to both the betting ban and changes to Valve’s competitive model.

LOUD dismissed a Counter-Strike roster the same day, before ever announcing it. According to HLTV, the organization signed the LP lineup in May, and Dust2 Brasil reported that LOUD had paid for a bootcamp in Portugal and several tournament registration fees. TEA could not find a public statement from LOUD explaining the decision. Head coach Pablo “disturbed” Fernandes wrote that he was a free agent “thanks to our president,” according to Dust2.us’s translation .

Dust2.us, citing The Esports Radar, reported that MIBR, Fluxo W7M and FURIA had removed betting sponsors from some or all of their team communications, while Legacy and Imperial were still displaying Rainbet and Gamdom, respectively. On Wednesday, MIBR’s X header showed IQUNIX and other non-betting partners and no 1xBet branding. As previously reported by The Esports Advocate, MIBR’s relationship with 1xBet began with its Counter-Strike team in 2022, and in November 2025 the club extended it to its VCT Americas team , in what MIBR described as the first betting sponsorship Riot had approved for a team.

The larger exposure sits with broadcasting.

Over the past year, BetBoom secured the Brazilian broadcast rights or broadcast sponsorship for most of top-tier Counter-Strike . As previously reported by The Esports Advocate:

BetBoom also sponsors FURIA and Gabriel “FalleN” Toledo.

ESL Pro League Season 24 is being played this week in Katowice, Poland. On Wednesday, TEA watched part of the Portuguese-language broadcast of Spirit against M80 on Alexandre “Gaules” Borba’s Kick channel. The sponsor slots in the corner of the screen rotated through DHL, Intel and Acer’s Predator brand, and no BetBoom branding appeared in the portion TEA watched. Dust2.us reported that Dust2 Brasil cancelled its remaining BetBoom Storm events “due to circumstances beyond the control of the parties involved.”

The measure also reaches the platforms those broadcasts run on. Article 19 gives internet platforms a duty to prevent the circulation of betting promotion aimed at Brazilians, “even when generated by third parties.” Under Article 22, platforms that fail face fines of up to 10% of their company group’s revenue in Brazil or, for companies without Brazilian revenue, up to R$1,000 per registered user, capped at R$50 million ($9.6 million) per infraction. Article 17 exempts content published before the measure in which betting advertising is incidental.

Whether any of this is permanent is now a political question.

A provisional measure takes effect immediately but lapses unless Congress approves it. InfoMoney reported that the deadline falls in January or February 2027, depending on when Congress breaks for recess, and that leaders had not yet named the members of the joint committee that will review the measure. Brasil 247, citing O Globo , reported that Senate President Davi Alcolumbre extended the deadline for amendments to Oct. 13, after the first round of voting.

InfoMoney counted at least 26 amendments by Oct. 1. One, filed by Deputy Marcos Braz, a former Flamengo football vice president, would allow betting on final results and scores again while keeping the ban on bets on “isolated events or individual plays.” A second Braz amendment would preserve “passive display of brands” on uniforms and in arenas under existing sponsorship contracts for 24 months. Sen. Jorge Kajuru proposed refunding operators part of their license fees, in proportion to the time left on their licenses.

None of the amendments InfoMoney described mentions esports. The texts do not address whether a team jersey, a broadcast overlay or a streamer’s channel would qualify as “passive display.”

The runoff adds a second clock. Sen. Flávio Bolsonaro led the Oct. 4 first round with about 47% of valid votes to Lula’s 44.9%, with nearly 99% of votes counted, Al Jazeera reported . Bolsonaro has called the measure “populist, hypocritical and politically motivated,” according to Reuters. InfoMoney reported that he supports banning online casinos while keeping sports betting. BandNews TV journalist Rodolfo Schneider reported that football clubs, including Corinthians, have discussed publicly backing him, though none had done so.

TEA reached out to paiN Gaming on Oct. 2, and on Oct. 4 to Spun Mídia, whose EZOR unit owns MIBR and LOS, about their exposure to the ban. paiN Gaming and Spun Mídia did not respond to requests for comment.

Still unknown are whether BetBoom’s agreements with BLAST, PGL and ESL FACEIT Group include regulatory exit clauses, who is paying for the Portuguese-language broadcasts now, how much of Brazilian teams’ sponsorship revenue came from betting operators, and whether regulators will treat esports jerseys and stream overlays the same way as football shirts.

For Brazilian team owners, the immediate question is whether to cut 2027 budgets now or wait for Congress and the Oct. 25 result. The broader one is whether a scene that let one bookmaker become its main broadcast backer can find a replacement if the ban stays in place.