Brazil shuts Stake’s betting exception within 24 hours

• Brazil suspends Stake’s injunction at the government’s request.
• Ruling cites regulatory asymmetry and the risk of copycat lawsuits.
• Decision leaves the merits and the ban’s constitutionality untouched.

Stake’s court-won return to Brazil lasted barely a day. On Friday, October 9, the president of the Federal Regional Court of the 3rd Region (TRF-3) suspended the injunction keeping the operator live until October 25.

He sided with the federal Attorney General’s Office (AGU), which had appealed within hours.

Sixteen days, cut short

President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva signed the measure banning online betting on September 25. Licensed sites went dark on October 6.

Two days later, Judge Cristiane Farias Rodrigues dos Santos of São Paulo’s 9th Federal Civil Court handed Stake a partial injunction. Its lawyers at Bichara e Motta called it the first favorable ruling for a fixed-odds operator against Provisional Measure 1,394/2026.

The order was narrow. It kept Stake’s authorization valid until October 25, the date the measure itself sets for licenses to lapse. It also froze the redirection of the stake.bet.br domain.

The relief came with 12 conditions, including a ban on new campaigns and bonuses and a duty to pay out player balances. The judge rejected Stake’s main request to suspend the measure and keep trading until December 31, 2029.

Before the reversal, Stake Brasil said in a statement provided to Covers:

“Stake Brasil understands that consumer protection is one of the main benefits of a regulated market. It is in this environment, with clear rules, responsible gaming mechanisms, and public authority oversight, that this protection becomes effective.”

No room for exceptions

The AGU argued that the order exempted a single company from a nationwide public policy, causing serious harm to public order. TRF-3 president Luis Antonio Johonsom Di Salvo accepted that argument in full, BNL Data reported.

Letting Stake trade with every rival blocked would create regulatory asymmetry, he found. He also warned that the injunction could invite copycat claims from other operators hit by the ban.

Di Salvo pointed to the Supreme Federal Court (STF), where Justice Luiz Fux is reviewing three challenges to the measure. With the question pending there, he saw no place for lower courts to reshape the market one case at a time.

The suspension holds until a final judgment in Stake’s case or a new ruling from the TRF-3 presidency. It does not decide the merits of the lawsuit or the measure’s constitutionality.

Where Stake goes next

The measure’s effects now apply to Stake again, including the domain redirection. Poder360 reported that federal agencies may resume the blocking measures the injunction had paused.

The underlying writ of mandamus, case 5030862-66.2026.4.03.6100, continues at the 9th Federal Civil Court. The Finance Ministry’s Secretariat of Prizes and Bets, Anatel and the Central Bank must respond before federal prosecutors weigh in. Stake can also appeal Di Salvo’s decision to a TRF-3 panel.

The operator has a lot riding on the outcome. In documents filed in the case, Stake said it paid a BRL30 million authorization fee and injected BRL87.8 million in share capital.

It put its total investment, operating and compliance spend at around BRL128.2 million. It told the court it has 41 active employees in Brazil.

Trade groups ANJL and IBJR took the measure to the STF on September 28, according to Poder360. The AGU has asked the court to reject their injunction requests and hold a fresh public hearing.

The market’s future now sits with Fux and with Congress, which must convert the measure into law within 120 days for it to survive.

Voters return to the polls first. The presidential runoff between Lula and Flávio Bolsonaro falls on October 25, the day Stake’s injunction would have run out.