Senator Humberto Costa has presented a bill that would raise the legal gambling age in Brazil to 21, while also introducing a number of other restrictions.
PL 3,754/2025 seeks to amend several articles in Law 14,790/2023, Brazil’s fixed-odds betting law, implementing a ban on gambling advertising outside the hours of 10pm-6am through radio, television and internet video-sharing platforms.
The bill includes a ban on gambling sponsorships and brand displays at public sporting, cultural, artistic and festival events made accessible to the public.
Additionally, there would be an explicit ban on gambling marketing in schools and universities, with advertising targeted at those aged under 21 also prohibited.
Costa’s bill also proposes a maximum monthly betting limit per player, capped at the equivalent of the minimum wage for one month or BRL1,518 ($276). This would be in place across all licensed operators.
“This project is not just a piece of legislation; it’s a wake-up call against a true social epidemic, which affects, above all, our young people, the most vulnerable, those who should be focused on studying, working and building their dreams, and not trapped in screens that promise easy fortune, but deliver ruin, debt and despair,” Costa told the Senate on Tuesday.
The bill is awaiting despatch. If it is converted into law, the effects of PL 3,754/2025 would come into force 90 days after publication.
Licensed Brazil gambling sector feeling the heat
Costa’s bill is the latest example of the growing pressure on the licensed gambling sector, which only became regulated on 1 January this year.
The tax rate on legal operators’ GGR has been provisionally increased from 12% to 18%, with a Congress vote expected by 9 October on whether to make the rise permanent.
Additional advertising restrictions, which include a watershed similar to the one proposed in PL 3,754/2025, are also undergoing review after being approved by the Senate.
Meanwhile, Brazil’s finance minister Fernando Haddad recently said he would vote to approve a ban on gambling if such a bill were to appear in the Chamber of Deputies.
Costa echoed Haddad’s sentiments in Tuesday’s speech, claiming betting “does nothing good for Brazil”, instead fostering addiction, debt and suicide.
“Not a single cent of the meagre tax these companies collect compensates for the enormous social harm they cause,” Costa said.
“Betting has become one of the biggest tools of emotional and financial manipulation of our time.”
With the licensed gambling sector feeling the squeeze, the industry is concerned that overregulation could lead to adverse consequences, boosting the black market by harming the viability of regulated operations.
Fernando Vieira, executive director of the Brazilian Institute of Responsible Gaming, previously told iGB: “The only way operators will be sustainable in Brazil is to increase the channelisation level and, for that, the fight against the illicit market becomes even more important.”
The bill proposes a maximum monthly betting limit per player, capped at the equivalent of one monthly minimum wage or BRL1,518 ($276) a month.