Brazil’s Secretariat of Prizes and Bets (SPA) has launched a comprehensive public consultation aimed at amending the allocation of tax revenue derived from fixed-odds betting. This initiative specifically focuses on refining how funds are distributed, with a particular emphasis on sports image rights, as the SPA seeks to make the allocation process “more effective and efficient.”

The public consultation forms part of the SPA’s broader attempts to ensure tax revenue from betting is appropriately distributed, particularly in relation to Brazil’s sports sector. The SPA’s objective is to potentially change where money is allocated under Law No 13,756/2018, the existing legislation governing fixed-odds betting revenue. Law No 13,756/2018 currently splits revenue allocations into three blocks. Two of these blocks will be subject to the consultation process: the first concerns allocations to private and civil society entities, such as the Brazilian Red Cross, while the second goes to entities within Brazilian sports, including the Brazilian Olympic Committee, which is currently the biggest beneficiary of sports betting taxes. How this money is divided among sports entities is a key focus of the new consultation. The third block, which covers legal allocations to public services, will not be involved in the consultation.

The SPA’s consultation is open for 45 days, closing on August 6, 2025. Interested parties are invited to offer their opinions through the Participa+Brasil portal, with the process mirroring much of the procedure the SPA utilised to form its 2025-26 regulatory agenda. The consultation officially opened on June 19, 2025.

Sports Image Rights Under the Spotlight

Sports image rights are a central theme of the SPA’s consultation, featuring prominently in six of the 12 questions posed to respondents. The SPA is keen to establish improved measures to ensure appropriate amounts are distributed to key stakeholders such as athletes, sports clubs, and competition organisers. The questions include requests for suggestions of specific elements common to all sports that could dictate how much should be paid for various image rights.

Article 30 of Law No 13,756/2018 explains that tax proceeds from betting will go to National Sports System entities “in exchange for the use of their names, sports nicknames, images, brands, emblems, anthems, symbols and similar for the promotion and execution of the fixed-odds betting lottery.” Currently, the sports sector collectively receives 36% of tax revenues from betting, with the Ministry of Sports being the main beneficiary, receiving 22.2% of the total sports allocation. The current breakdown of this 36% allocation includes:

• Ministry of Sports: 22.2%
• National Sports System entities: 7.3%
• Brazilian Olympic Committee: 2.2%
• Brazilian Paralympic Committee: 1.3%
• Brazilian Club Committee: 0.7%
• State and Federal District sport departments: 0.7%
• Brazilian School Sports Confederation: 0.5%
• Brazilian University Sports Confederation: 0.5%
• Brazilian Master Sports Committee: 0.3%
• Brazilian Paralympic Club Committee: 0.3%

Improving Distribution Process and Transparency

The consultation also calls for respondents to provide their opinions on how the operation of the distribution process could be enhanced, while also asking for suggestions on how the procedure could be made more transparent. Notably, the SPA is exploring new mechanisms to ensure resources effectively reach their intended beneficiaries.

The consultation concludes by requesting respondents to offer specific regulatory texts that could improve the allocation of tax revenue, either in the form of complete articles or proposed alterations to existing sections of Law No 13,756/2018. This detailed approach signals the SPA’s commitment to comprehensive reform of the allocation system. This public consultation is a key part of the SPA’s 2025-26 regulatory agenda, which previously indicated attempts to improve the allocation of resources from betting to the sports sector would be made in Q2.