An action by Minister André Mendonça, of the Federal Supreme Court (STF), vetoed the operation of bets licensed by the Rio de Janeiro State Lottery (Loterj) outside the State’s territory. This includes Corinthians and Flamengo’s sponsors, Esportes da Sorte and Pixbet, respectively. Depending on the CBF’s understanding, this could also prohibit the exposure of brands in national competitions. The São Paulo club’s partner states that it has not yet been notified and reiterated Loterj’s authorization to operate nationally.
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The two companies were not included in the list released by the Ministry of Finance for regular operations in 2025. They were then supported by authorization from the RJ municipality, valid for five years for national operations. In Mendonça’s order, however, the minister gave a period of five days from the notice for Loterj to suspend activities outside of RJ, in addition to resuming the mandatory use of geolocation to prove that the games are held in state territory. The decision also affects Betvip, Sport’s main sponsor.
In October last year, the CBF ruled that only bets licensed by the Ministry of Finance could be advertised in national competitions. The only exception was related to companies authorized by Loterj. According to Ambiel Advogados partner and specialist in Sports Law and Responsible Gaming, Felipe Crisafulli, this is called into question with Mendonça’s decision.
“Now, with this prohibition on the activities of these betting houses outside the territorial limits of Rio de Janeiro, this understanding of the CBF tends to fall apart. If the CBF maintains its initial understanding, it will probably ban clubs from displaying these brands on their uniforms outside the State of Rio de Janeiro”, he assesses.
According to the expert, it is difficult to imagine that the teams will be able to display brands authorized only by Loterj, since the games are broadcast throughout the country. “The question here is whether the clubs and companies will seek some kind of understanding mutual, whether for the purpose of contract termination or for renegotiation of values. Will they wait for this decision to become final before taking more drastic actions? And will the CBF act quickly or will it remain on hold, until there is greater clarity on what is to come?”, asks the lawyer.
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The action of the STF minister also determines that the State of Rio de Janeiro and Loterj do not take new actions to provide services from companies accredited by the authority, outside the state territory.
Companies in the fixed-odd betting market have been the main sponsors of Brazilian football since operations were allowed in the country in 2017.
At Corinthians, Esportes da Sorte supports Memphis Depay’s R$3 million monthly salary. The company also paid part of the R$2 million that Luis Suárez received per month at Grêmio.
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Superbet, which has a definitive license from the MF, has been a partner of São Paulo since the end of 2023 and contributes part of the salary that Oscar will receive upon his return to Brazil. Of the R$24 million per year, bet will pay R$12.5 million.
Why is Esportes da Sorte accredited in Rio?
According to Loterj, Esportes da Sorte became accredited because Esportes Gaming Brasil, the company that owns the brand, became a controlling partner of ST Soft Desenvolvimento de Programa de Computadores Ltda, owner of the Apostou.com platform, accredited by the RJ Lottery since November 2023.
After the corporate change, ST Soft requested authorization to replace the current domain (rj.apostou.com) with the new ones (esportesdasorte.com and onabet.com), maintaining the conditions for authorization for operation. Loterj understood that the company met the requirements and accredited the new domains.
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The grant for operation via Loterj is R$5 million, with a license for five years of exploration and payment of federal taxes. The license from the Ministry of Finance requires a grant of R$30 million.
In a statement, Esportes da Sorte reiterated that it has the ability to act granted by Loterj. “The authority verified that the company complies with the legal requirements, including legal qualification, tax and labor regularity, economic-financial qualification, technical qualification and meets all the requirements of responsible gambling, in addition to presenting the required certificates of suitability”, says the text .
“Any information contrary to this decision has not yet come to the attention of the company, which is awaiting a public statement from the competent bodies”, he adds. The company states that it is applying for a license from the Ministry of Finance.
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“’Pente fino”
On the last day of 2024, the Ministry of Finance published 15 ordinances that regulate the fixed-odd betting market in the country from 2025 onwards. Of the total documents, 14 granted definitive authorization to companies with a total of 30 bets. Another 52 CNPJs, responsible for 65 brands, are on a provisional list and will need to submit new documents.
Adding provisional and definitive licenses, the total number of bets regularized as of January 1st is 95. The last list released by the federal government, on December 20th, indicated 104 CNPJs that manage, in total, 231 bets authorized to operate until the end of 2024.
Among Series A clubs, three brands are outside both lists. Esportes da Sorte sponsors, in addition to Corinthians, Bahia, Ceará and Grêmio – and is not a master partner in the case of the club from Rio Grande do Sul. There is also Pixbet and Betvip, Sport’s sponsor. The three worked under license from Loterj.
Parimatch is also not on any list. The company was a partner of Botafogo, but the relationship was not renewed for 2025.
