Betano, KTO, Sportingbet, Superbet and other formerly licensed operators shut their Brazilian websites and apps overnight into Tuesday 6 October, complying with Provisional Measure 1.394/2026 after no Supreme Federal Court (STF) injunction arrived to suspend it.
UOL reported shortly after midnight Brasília time that the sites of the main betting houses operating in Brazil were down. The measure signed by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva had set 23:59 on Monday as the last moment for operators to keep their sites and related advertising live, and with no court order suspending its effects, UOL said the companies had no alternative.
The switch-off empties Brazil's regulated fixed-odds market and leaves the remaining fights over refunds, redirects and the measure's survival to banks, judges and Congress.
Shutdown notices replace the betting pages
Visitors to the addresses of Sportingbet, Betnacional, Esportes da Sorte and Superbet were sent to a government page at brasilsembets.gov.br, according to UOL. The notice there reads, in translation: "Access blocked. The betting platform you tried to access is offline by determination of Provisional Measure No. 1.394/26, which has prohibited sports betting and online casinos in Brazil since 25 September 2026."
The same government page tells bettors what happens to money they could not withdraw. "If you were unable to withdraw by that date, the banks that work with betting platforms will return your balance between 9 and 14 October 2026, automatically," part of the notice says, as quoted by UOL.
Betano used its own, shorter message. "Service unavailable. Due to Provisional Measure 1394/2026, we were obliged to take this site offline," it says, with a link to the text of the measure. KTO told customers it was "unable to operate" in compliance with the measure, thanked them for their understanding and gave a support email address for questions.
The redirects matter because the Justice Ministry had ordered operators to send their traffic to the government portal from 00:01 on 6 October, an instruction GCN covered in its report on the Brasil sem Bets order. The National Association of Games and Lotteries (ANJL) had called that demand electioneering and legally unlawful and recommended that its operators not implement it, O Globo reported on Tuesday. UOL's report shows several major brands now redirect to the government page all the same.
No injunction from Fux before the deadline
The operators went dark while their constitutional challenges were still waiting for a decision. Justice Luiz Fux is rapporteur for the cases and could rule in the coming days, UOL noted, so the betting sites offline today could in principle return if the court suspends the measure.
Fux had earlier given the Attorney General's Office 72 hours to provide information on the measure, a step covered in GCN's report on that deadline. No order suspending the measure had been issued by the time the cut-off passed.
Associations widen the court fight to the redirect
ANJL and the Brazilian Institute of Responsible Gaming (IBJR) have also taken the redirect order itself to Fux, Zona de Azar reported on 6 October. The associations asked for urgent interim relief before the redirection requirement took effect, within the constitutional cases already challenging the measure.
Their filing argues that Article 23 of the provisional measure allows websites to be blocked or redirected for the purpose of ending access, but does not say that all traffic must be sent specifically to a federal government website. In their view, the administrative instruction creates an obligation the measure does not expressly contain.
The groups also dispute the mechanism. They argue that technical implementation should follow the routes established for the telecoms regulator Anatel and the Brazilian Internet Steering Committee (CGI.br), rather than requiring operators to carry out the redirect through their own infrastructure.
Two further points are new in the filing. The associations say a full redirect could interfere with customer-service channels operators still need to process balance repayments and send information to the Secretariat of Prizes and Betting (SPA). They also cite the General Data Protection Law (LGPD), arguing that sending millions of users to a government-controlled domain may involve data such as IP addresses, devices and access times, and questioning whether there is a sufficiently specific legal basis for that processing.
Refunds pass to the banks this week
Until mid-afternoon on Monday, R$1.33bn was still held on the platforms, O Globo reported, a figure GCN set out in its report on the withdrawal deadline. With the sites blocked, operators must tell financial institutions on Wednesday and Thursday how much each customer still holds, broken down by CPF taxpayer number.
Banks then have from 9 to 14 October to return the money. Where a refund cannot be made, the funds will be transferred from 14 October to the state bank Caixa Econômica Federal, which will handle repayment to bettors, according to O Globo. The government said app stores, internet providers and CGI.br must act to block the betting sites and apps.
Offshore brands gain ground as demand collapses
Demand had already collapsed in the days before the deadline took licensed betting sites offline. Online gaming demand in Brazil dropped 78.2% in the week ending 4 October, after a 20.1% fall the week before, according to Blask data reported by iGaming.org.
Blask recorded brands without a Brazilian licence at 3.7% of its Brazil Index in the week of 14 to 20 September. That share rose to 5.9% the following week and 18.1% in the week beginning 28 September, and it reached 23.4% of the combined index on 4 October. Blask uses "offshore" to describe operators without a Brazilian licence, a label based on licensing status alone.
Analysis: with licensed brands now dark, the next Blask readings will show how much of the remaining search and traffic demand moves to unlicensed sites that the measure also prohibits.
Clubs lose sponsors as football resumes
The shutdown also removes betting brands that sponsored Brasileirão clubs, such as Betano and Sportingbet, UOL reported. Wednesday's round of the national championship will be the first without the betting houses unless the Supreme Court changes course.
Contracts between betting companies and Série A clubs exceed R$1bn, UOL said, which is why clubs have joined the STF cases as friends of the court in actions brought by bodies representing the operators.
Congress review and the runoff calendar
A joint committee of senators and deputies will examine the text, but that debate will not be immediate: the measure only enters urgency status on 9 November, UOL noted. As a provisional measure it took effect at once and is valid for 120 days, but it needs congressional approval to become permanent, Yogonet reported.
Lula said in a Flow Podcast interview on 1 October that he doubted Congress would have "the courage to end it", according to Yogonet. His opponent Flávio Bolsonaro finished ahead in Sunday's first round with more than 47% of valid votes, and Bolsonaro's Liberal Party secured the largest blocs in both the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate. The two candidates meet in a runoff on 25 October.
Lula has argued that ending betting would stem household debt and gambling addiction, UOL said. For now, the timetable he set is running: the sites are down, refunds start on Friday and the court challenges remain undecided.
