Brazil’s Blask Index fell 20.1% WoW after President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva signed Medida Provisória 1.394 on Sept 25, banning fixed-odds sports betting and online games nationwide.
The index had spiked 41.45% day-over-day on Sept 26, the day the ban made headlines — the weekly decline reflects what happened next, as the market began pricing in an actual shutdown rather than just the news of one.
3 days after the signing, on Sept 28, betting-industry associations filed suit with Brazil’s Supreme Federal Court seeking to suspend the measure.
The decree bans the exploitation, offer, intermediation, and advertising of fixed-odds sports bets and online games across physical and virtual channels nationwide, including offshore platforms serving Brazilian users; other legal lottery types are exempt. New deposits stopped the day the decree was published.
Withdrawals stay open until 23:59 on Oct 5, and betting sites and apps must go offline from Oct 6. Alongside the ban, the government sent Congress a separate bill criminalizing five betting-related offenses, with proposed sentences of two to six years.
The measure’s survival is not settled. As a provisional measure, MP 1.394 takes effect immediately but must be ratified by Brazil’s Congress within 120 days to become permanent law. The Sept 28 Supreme Federal Court filing, brought by betting-sector associations arguing the ban causes irreversible harm, adds a second, faster-moving avenue for reversal.
Brazil regulated fixed-odds betting only two years ago; a full-scale prohibition attempt this soon, contested in court within days, is a marked reversal for one of Latin America’s largest regulated markets.
