Stake wins injunction to resume Brazil operations despite national shutdown
A São Paulo federal court has kept the operator’s authorisation alive until 25 October, making Stake the first licensed firm to get relief from President Lula’s provisional measure
Stake has won a court injunction allowing it to resume operating in Brazil, despite the federal government’s ban on online betting and gaming.
Under President Inácio Lula da Silva’s provisional measure signed on 25 September, the offering, intermediation and advertising of fixed-odds betting and online casino games was banned from 6 October.
It ended the regulated market that launched under Lula’s watch in January 2025 and states that licensees will receive no compensation and no refund of their BRL30m (£4.5m) licence fees.
However, on Thursday, 8 October, Judge Cristiane Farias Rodrigues dos Santos of the Ninth Federal Civil Court of São Paulo granted Stake Brasil a partial preliminary injunction against the provisional measure.
Under the ruling, Stake’s authorisation remains valid until 25 October 2026 or until a further court decision, whichever comes first.
Until then, authorities may not block or redirect the stake.bet.br domain. No sanction may be imposed on the operator for trading within the conditions set by the court.
The judge rejected Stake’s requests to suspend the provisional measure outright and to keep operating until its authorisation expires at the end of 2029. That second request remains under review on the merits.
While the injunction is in force, Stake must meet 12 conditions. These include keeping identity checks in place, barring bets made with social programme money, halting new promotional campaigns and customer acquisition, letting players withdraw their balances and holding enough funds to pay them.
In a statement, Stake Brasil said. “By recognising that an authorisation obtained by fulfilling all legal requirements, paying the [licence] fee and making significant investments confers a legal position that cannot be suppressed without due consideration, the court reaffirmed the importance of legal certainty and the stability of rules.”
The operator added it had “fully complied” with the measure’s obligations since publication and would continue to do so. “To our knowledge, we are the first licensed operator to get a decision of this kind,” it noted.
Under Lula’s measure, licensed firms had to go offline on 6 October. The Ministry of Justice and Public Security has said 187 of the 188 previously authorised sites have stopped operating.
The ban took effect immediately but still needs to obtain congressional approval within 120 days to become permanent. Lawmakers are not expected to debate it until after the presidential election run-off, which falls on 25 October, the day Stake’s injunction expires.
The first round of the closely fought election race, which took place on Sunday, 4 October, saw no candidate emerge with the required 50% of votes to become president, with Flávio Bolsonaro sitting at 47.03% while incumbent Lula received 45.16%.
H2 Gambling Capital has forecast up to BRL30bn (£4.3bn) will shift to the illegal market as a result of the ban, although Regulus Partners has suggested there is an 85% chance the shutdown only lasts a few weeks or months.