Brazilian Judge Lets Stake Operate Until 25 October but Refuses to Suspend the Betting Ban

A federal judge in São Paulo has held the government to the ban's own 30-day clause, keeping Stake's licence alive until 25 October while refusing to suspend the ban or let Stake run to 2029. The ANJL has taken a narrower request to a federal court in Brasília, and says a broader one may follow.

• Federal Judge Cristiane Farias Rodrigues dos Santos of the 9th Federal Civil Court of São Paulo on 8 October preserved Stake Brazil's authorisation until 25 October, or any earlier ruling, and suspended the blocking of stake.bet.br where it rests only on bringing the licence's end forward
• She refused Stake's main request to suspend Provisional Measure 1.394 for the company and operate until its licence expires in 2029, and attached 12 conditions, including a ban on new promotions
• Her reasoning: a measure that gives licences 30 days before they are extinguished cannot be enforced as if they ended on day one
• The Attorney General's Office (AGU) has said it will appeal to the Federal Regional Court of the 3rd Region, according to Lei em Campo and NDmais
• The National Association of Games and Lotteries (ANJL) has asked a Brasília court to keep its members' 34 licences alive past 25 October and is studying a second suit, while Justice Luiz Fux has still not ruled at the Supreme Federal Tribunal (STF)

A São Paulo Court Keeps One Licence Alive, on the Measure's Own Timetable

Stake Brazil Ltda filed a writ of mandamus (mandado de segurança) against the Secretariat of Prizes and Betting (SPA), the telecoms regulator Anatel and the Central Bank, distributed on 5 October as case 5030862-66.2026.4.03.6100. The judge signed her decision at 11:35 on Thursday 8 October; BNLData published it in full.

Stake asked to keep operating under its licence, SPA/MF Ordinance 263 of 7 February 2025, until 31 December 2029. The judge refused: granting it would set aside a national policy for a long period before the government had answered. She left that open until the authorities report on relevance and urgency, the studies behind the measure, its budget impact and its proportionality.

She granted the fallback request in part. Until 25 October, or a further ruling, Stake's authorisation keeps provisional effect, the authorities may not treat it as extinguished, the blocking or redirection of stake.bet.br is suspended where its only basis is anticipating the extinction, and no sanction may follow solely from operating within the order. The decision guarantees nothing after 25 October, declares nothing unconstitutional, orders no refund of the licence fee and binds no private institution directly.

The reasoning rests on the measure's calendar. Article 7 required sites to go offline ten days after publication on 25 September; Article 4 extinguishes licences after 30 days, with no refund and no compensation. A Justice Ministry letter ordered stake.bet.br redirected from 00:01 on 6 October. "Se a Autorização fosse juridicamente inexistente desde a publicação da medida provisória, não haveria razão para a norma estabelecer termo posterior específico para sua extinção," the judge wrote: if the licence had no legal existence from publication, there would be no reason for a later, specific date for its extinction.

The conditions keep identity, age, anti-money laundering and self-exclusion controls in force, bar stakes from social benefit funds under the STF's interim orders in ADIs 7721 and 7723, forbid new campaigns and sign-up bonuses, and require withdrawals to stay open.

According to the decision, Stake says it paid R$30 million, approximately $5.8 million, for the licence, spent about R$128.2 million, approximately $24.7 million, employs 41 people and held 508,084 player wallets on 23 September. Its lawyers at Bichara e Motta called it the first favourable ruling for a fixed-odds operator against the measure, in a note published by Poder360. Whether stake.bet.br had resumed taking bets by Friday could not be independently confirmed.

ANJL Asks a Brasília Court for the Minimum, for Now

The ANJL, whose 32 members hold 34 of the 85 licences the SPA granted, filed collective writ 1114596-86.2026.4.01.3400 on 7 October at the 13th Federal Civil Court of the Federal District, according to BNLData, which saw the petition. It asks that the SPA not treat the licences as extinguished on 25 October and that members' .bet.br domains, social media profiles and apps return for customer service only, with no betting or advertising. The association "não pede que as Associadas continuem a explorar as apostas enquanto o Congresso Nacional delibera" (does not ask that members keep offering bets while Congress deliberates), the petition says. The AGU asked on 8 October for five days to respond before any ruling.

In a note to members obtained by BNLData, the ANJL says it is studying a second writ with "escopo maior" (broader scope), covering "a manutenção dos sites, a preservação do fluxo financeiro, o recebimento de depósitos" (keeping sites up, preserving financial flows, receiving deposits).

At the STF, the ADI 7721 docket showed an amicus petition on 8 October and no decision. Fux is expected to decide only after the 25 October presidential run-off, journalist Mauro Cezar Pereira said on UOL, as reported by iGaming Brazil; the court has not said so.

The Judge Used the Ban's Own Calendar Against It

The ruling is narrow by design. It does not test whether a ban is lawful; it holds the government to the 30 days the measure gave itself, which may make it harder to overturn on appeal. It also gives less than it seems: Stake gains at most 17 days, without promotions, and the operative order does not mention the payment blocks or the Article 7 bar on new deposits, while payment firms are told of it, not bound by it. The signed decision even carries a drafting note that one citation "deve ser conferida na versão final" (should be checked in the final version), a sign of the speed at which these cases are moving.

ANJL's Harder Problem Is Article 4 Itself

Stake won by attacking an enforcement act that came early. The ANJL wants licences to survive past 25 October, but on that date extinction flows from Article 4, which has the force of law, and a writ cannot challenge a law in the abstract, as BNLData notes. The association has already conceded that a measure falling with no licences left would leave no regulated market to restore. Its second writ would move from preserving to reopening, which is what the São Paulo judge declined to do.

Federal Courts Cannot Settle This One Licence at a Time

Single-operator injunctions in different regions could leave some brands online and most dark, a patchwork that helps neither channelisation nor enforcement. Only the STF or Congress can give a uniform answer, and both appear to be waiting for an election held on the day the licences end.

Stake has bought time, not a reprieve, and the ruling expires on the date that matters. Unless Fux or Congress acts first, 25 October will end Brazil's licences regardless of who wins in court.