master sponsor of , was included in a new list from the Ministry of Finance, published on Wednesday night (22), to list betting houses that are authorized to operate nationwide via court order. This list is not the same as those included by final decision of the Prizes and Betting Secretariat (SPA).
To the report of Estadãothe secretariat stated that “the aforementioned company received permission to operate following an injunction from the Federal Court, not the Ministry of Finance. That’s why it’s on a separate list.” Esportes da Sorte states that the grant was granted after the company met all legal and regulatory requirements established by legislation and its respective ordinances.
The betting house also states that it paid the aforementioned concession grant on January 13, in the amount of R$30 million, and carried out the domain transition on the brand’s official website. Esportes da Sorte did not enter the first version of the authorization list, on December 31st, the day before the need for a grant from the Treasury came into force, but obtained approval from the Rio de Janeiro Lottery (Loterj).
However, a decision by Minister André Mendonça, of the Federal Supreme Court (STF), was made by the Rio de Janeiro municipality for the rest of the national territory. On January 13, the company obtained an injunction from the Federal District Court that validated Loterj’s release.
Nine days later, this Wednesday, the new list of those authorized via court decision was published. In a note distributed to the press, Esportes da Sorte announced that it “has joined the list of companies authorized to operate fixed-odd betting in Brazil through a license from the Secretariat of Prizes and Bets (SPA/MF)”
“The concession has a term of five years and covers the two companies in the group: Esportes da Sorte and Onabet. The grant was granted after the company met all legal and regulatory requirements established by legislation and its respective ordinances, which culminated in a judicial decision that considered the reason for the administrative rejection initially issued by the Secretariat of Prizes and Bets to be illegal”, concludes the communicated.
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STF x Loterj
Since the beginning of the imbroglio, Esportes da Sorte claimed that it could operate, as it had obtained approval from Loterj, which would be valid for five years. This was not recognized by the SPA at first. What reinforced the understanding of the federal body was reinforced with the decision of minister André Mendonça, who vetoed the operation of companies authorized by Loterj outside Rio de Janeiro.
The request came from the Attorney General’s Office (AGU), which pointed out “abusive exercise of local autonomy in the exploitation of public lottery services by the State of Rio de Janeiro”, with “usurpation of the Union’s competence in the exercise of this public service”.
At the time, Loterj even requested an embargo on the decision, alleging “deficiencies of omission, obscurity and material error”. According to the municipality, the requirement for a geolocation system – so that users outside of RJ do not use platforms licensed only by Loterj – goes beyond the legal provision, arguing that the users’ own declaration of location would be sufficient.
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Minister André Mendonça rejected the request. According to him, the embargo request was only due to the municipality’s dissatisfaction with the previous decision. Mendonça also reinforced that the operation of lotteries is a public service subject to Union regulation, including territorial limitations, which justifies the use of geolocation.
Corinthians was approached by other betting houses, amid uncertainty with the current sponsor, but maintained the partnership, believing that Esportes da Sorte will obtain the license to operate nationally.
Companies in the fixed-odd betting market have been the main sponsors of Brazilian football since operations were allowed in the country in 2017.
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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.
Superbet, which has a definitive license from the Ministry of Finance, 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.
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 platform apostau.com, accredited by the Loteria do RJ since November 2023.
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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.
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. 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.
“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.
