The Minas Gerais government is using the betting law to defend before the Supreme Court a decree that prohibits betting advertising on public property.
The government of Minas Gerais presented information to the Supreme Federal Court in Direct Action of Unconstitutionality (ADI) 8.014, filed by the National Association of Games and Lotteries (ANJL) against State Decree No. 49.279/2026. The decree, dated August 20, prohibits advertising, publicity, and sponsorship by fixed-odds betting operators (and adult content platforms) on state public property, at events promoted or supported by the Executive branch, and in concessioned structures, in addition to vetoing the use of public funds in these actions. Article 4 removed the fixed-odds modality from the regulations of the Minas Gerais State Lottery (Lemg).
Petition AGE/GAB/ASSGAB No. 879/2026 is dated October 19 and was electronically signed by Governor Mateus Simões on October 20. It is also signed by the State Attorney General, Fábio Murilo Nazar, and prosecutors Arthur Pereira de Mattos Paixão Filho and Maria Cecília Ferreira Albrecht. ANJL is represented by lawyers Pietro Cardia Lorenzoni and Bernardo Cavalcanti Freire.
The rapporteur, Minister Flávio Dino, had already denied the precautionary measure on September 21. In his decision, he understood that the decree is limited to the use of state assets and resources and falls within the scope of administrative powers. According to Dino, no one has an "acquired right" to receive sponsorship funded with public money.
Attack on the legitimacy of ANJL
The document opens with preliminary arguments requesting that the action be dismissed. The State Attorney General's Office maintains that ANJL has not proven to be a national class entity of a homogeneous category.
⇒ Number of members: the initial report mentions 23 companies with federal licenses, but the list attached to the case file shows 34 legal entities, without indicating activity, license, or date of affiliation.
⇒ Heterogeneous composition: the State lists payment institutions (Pagstar, TransferSmile and Zero), technology and intermediation companies (Legitimuz, Stable Software and Paag), the production company SiGMA – Jericho Produções and the Pernambuco Lottery System, whose name suggests a link with a state lottery.
⇒ Broad statute: the association's document names it "National Association of Games, Lotteries and Commercial Promotions" and admits members licensed by "any entity of the Federation" and by foreign jurisdictions.
⇒ National scope: the initial filing itself indicates associated companies based in seven states, below the nine required by the Supreme Federal Court's jurisprudence. Minas Gerais rejects the analogy with ADI 2.866, in which the criterion was relaxed due to the geographical concentration of sea salt production.
The State also alleges a lack of thematic relevance regarding the section on adult content, unrelated to the statutory purposes of ANJL. It further requests recognition of the partial inadequacy of the initial claim, due to the absence of specific challenge to this section and to Article 4, which revoked the fixed quota of Lemg.
The Provisional Measure as reinforcement
The most sensitive argument for the sector lies in the topic of Provisional Measure No. 1.394/2026, published on September 25, four days after Dino's decision. Minas Gerais argues that the Provisional Measure altered the context in which the action was proposed, for five reasons:
⇒ revoked articles 1 to 21 of Law 14.790/2023, including the advertising provisions invoked by ANJL;
⇒ banned all advertising of the sport in the country;
⇒ set a deadline of ten days for the removal of the material;
⇒ eliminated federal and state authorizations;
⇒ called on the states to adopt compliance measures (art. 26).
For the State, this reduces the "practical usefulness" of the requested protection, because the same advertising would still be prohibited by federal law.
There is an irony in the argument. Paragraph 3 of Article 1 of the Minas Gerais decree defines "betting operator" by referring to Article 2 of Law 14.790/2023, which the petition itself acknowledges was revoked by the Provisional Measure. At the same time, the government admits that the validity of the Provisional Measure is under discussion in the Supreme Federal Court (STF), in ADIs 8.024, 8.027 and 8.028, under the rapporteurship of Minister Luiz Fux. Therefore, it maintains that the decree "remains constitutionally valid" even if the provisional measure is overturned.
Merit: asset management, not regulation.
On the merits, the central argument is that the governor acted as the holder and manager of assets and resources, and not as a regulator. According to the State, there is no usurpation of the Union's exclusive competence over lotteries (article 22, XX), based on ADPFs 492 and 493. Nor would there be usurpation of competence over commercial advertising (article 22, XXIX). The precedents cited by ANJL (ADIs 5.424, 5.432, 4.761 and 2.815) deal with state laws that regulate third-party advertising in private media.
The document, however, makes relevant concessions. It admits that the decree “covers events supported by the Executive Branch held in private locations.” It also acknowledges that its implementation may have repercussions for concessionaires, advertisers, and organizers. Regarding expenses and contractual impacts, it states that these require “concrete examination.” To support proportionality, the State cites the Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry into Betting, the figure of approximately R$ 3 billion from the Bolsa Família program spent on gambling, and the precautionary referendum in ADIs 7.721 and 7.723.
The LotoMinas case
To refute the accusation of favoritism towards state operators, Minas Gerais details what it has done with its own lottery:
⇒ August 21: On the day the decree was published, Lemg notified the operator of the LotoMinas Portal to remove the fixed-odds vertical and abandon the "bet" suffix in the name and domain.
⇒ August 26: Lemg determined the immediate discontinuation of the vertical.
⇒ August 27th: the company reported compliance.
According to the petition, the concessionaire even claimed that it did not qualify as an "operating agent" because it operates under a state concession contract, but Lemg rejected the argument. The State affirms that the payment of premiums and the withdrawal of balances were guaranteed.
In conclusion, Minas requests that the action be dismissed, in whole or in part, and, on the merits, that it be dismissed as unfounded. It also requests, alternatively, that the effects be modulated with ex nunc efficacy , so as not to undo the measures already adopted.
