What changes with the ban on betting advertisements in Rio? Understand.
The city of Rio de Janeiro has banned the display of advertising for betting platforms, known as "bets," on public roads and means of transport operated by the municipality. The decree, signed by Mayor Eduardo Cavaliere, came into effect this Monday (July 14) and covers billboards, building sides, street furniture, beach kiosks, and banners towed by airplanes over the beaches, as well as taxis, municipal buses, and the VLT (light rail).
According to O Globo, the affected companies have ten days to adapt to the new rule; after this period, fines will be applied. The initiative surprised advertising agencies, and companies in the betting sector are expected to appeal to the courts to contest it. Even on the morning the decree came into effect, the city hall had already covered two billboards advertising betting, one near Pedra do Sal, in the Saúde neighborhood, and another on Rua Siqueira Campos, in Copacabana.
Among the justifications for the decree are the protection of the urban landscape and the “severe impacts resulting from overexposure to fixed-odds betting and electronic gambling advertising on the mental health of the population, especially children and adolescents.” Cavaliere stated on social media that Rio is “Brazil’s showcase to the world and cannot become an open-air gambling gallery” and declared that the city is the “first metropolis in Brazil to prohibit outdoor advertising of betting.” The mayor acknowledged that there are still “hundreds, if not thousands” of active outdoor advertisements in the municipality and that the number is still being calculated.
Scope and limits of the measure
The decree does not apply to the interior areas of private events, even when held in municipal public facilities. Only advertisements visible outside these spaces are prohibited. Thus, during the Carnival parades in the Sambadrome, the Independent League of Samba Schools (LIESA) may display betting advertisements inside the avenue. The same logic applies to matches at the Nilton Santos Stadium; advertising is permitted on the field, but prohibited outside the stadium.
“There’s no controversy. The rules are clear. We don’t want a city where all outdoor advertising is for betting companies. Sponsorship from these companies can be on the shirts in the VIP boxes, on drink cups,” Cavaliere stated in an interview with O Globo.
The event most affected by the restriction is expected to be the Copacabana New Year's Eve celebration, held outdoors in a public area. In the last three editions, betting companies were among the main sponsors of the event. Orla Rio Associados, the concessionaire of more than 300 kiosks along the beachfront between Leme and Pontal, did not wait the ten-day period and prematurely removed a billboard installed in front of the Copacabana Palace Hotel, which was scheduled to be removed only on July 20th.
Industry reactions and legal context
According to Magnho José, president of the Instituto Brasil Legal, the decree is unconstitutional. He believes that the power to legislate on this matter belongs to the Federal Government.
“Betting companies are campaigning for responsible gambling and are being treated as public enemy number one. Initiatives like this only favor the actions of illegal companies, which have not sought to comply with the law and pay taxes. This moralistic discourse would make Dona Santinha blush 80 years later,” said Magnho, referring to the nickname of the wife of then-President Eurico Gaspar Dutra, who is said to have influenced her husband's decision to ban gambling in Brazil in April 1946.
Marcelo Pereira de Mello, a professor in the Department of Sociology at the Federal Fluminense University (UFF), classified the measure as "positive" and assessed that it represents a first step in curbing what he defines as the excessive display of advertising for betting systems. "There are no limits on betting advertisements, unlike what happens with alcoholic beverages and cigarettes. Teenagers and children are being exposed to this advertising, which has no time limit. What we can expect from now on is worse, because these are young people growing up in this environment and normalizing it, because it's in their homes, at any time," he stated.
The president of the Rio de Janeiro Outdoor Advertising Companies Union (SEPEX-RJ), Silvério Lazaroni, reported that the entity's legal department advised its members to comply with the decree immediately. Even so, there is concern about breaches of contract among the members. "I just think that a measure like this should be nationwide, extending the ban to other media as happened with cigarette advertising. Otherwise, only part of the market is affected, and companies will seek other means of display," stated Lazaroni.
The decree was published while the Supreme Federal Court (STF) is analyzing a lawsuit filed by the National Association of Games and Lotteries (ANJL) against legislation from Rio Grande do Sul, whose restrictions on the sector are broader than those foreseen in the Rio de Janeiro measure. In their appeal, the companies argue that the rules on the subject are already defined by federal law.
Previous measures and sector data
Cavaliere's decree is not the municipality's first action against the gambling sector. In August of the previous year, then-mayor Eduardo Paes also prohibited, by decree, companies licensed by Loterj from installing and operating video lottery machines and electronic gambling games in commercial establishments in the city. In June of this year, Cavaliere sanctioned a law by councilman Cesar Maia (PSD) that establishes "bimonthly awareness activities about the risks of gambling and betting, including electronic betting" in the municipal education network, with lectures, workshops, and projects aimed at students, families, and education professionals.
In early July, the Federal Senate held a public hearing to discuss the impacts of gambling. Gabriella de Andrade Boska, coordinator of the Department of Mental Health, Alcohol and Other Drugs at the Ministry of Health, stated at the time that gambling addiction is already treated as a public health problem, characterized as a non-substance addiction.
A study released in April by the National Confederation of Commerce of Goods, Services and Tourism (CNC) quantifies the sector's growth in the country. Since the regulation of betting in January 2023, monthly spending has grown rapidly; "Spending went from practically zero to more than R$ 30 billion per month in March 2026," the survey points out. The entity also notes that "excessive access to online betting has led 268 Brazilian families to severe default."
