Senate Sports Committee votes on bill to ban celebrities from participating in gambling ads

The Brazilian Senate Sports Commission is considering a bill, proposed by Eduardo Girão (Novo-CE), that seeks to prohibit the participation of celebrities in the advertising of bets on sporting events. Within this group of "people with the power to influence bettors" are included athletes, presenters, and commentators, as well as famous artists.  

According to Girão, with the enactment of Law 13,756/2018, which legalized sports betting, "the virtual environment has become a kind of lawless land," and he warned about the expansion of the activity without sufficient oversight. The bill will pass to the Communication and Digital Law Committee for a final decision.

The Commission meeting is also discussing the distribution of Timemania funds based on bettors' favorite teams. Timemania is a lottery contest that uses the clubs' brands and gives them 22% of the total proceeds of the draws in return. On their tickets, players can indicate their favorite club.

The bill, presented by Senator Veneziano Vital do Rêgo (MDB-PB) with the favorable vote of the rapporteur, Senator Romário (PL-RJ), amends Law 11.345 of 2006. It seeks to ensure that all Timemania funds destined for the clubs are distributed in proportion to the number of candidacies presented by the bettors.

Currently, the distribution criteria are determined by Decree 10.941 of 2022, according to which half of the funds will be distributed equally among all clubs and the other half will be based on the proportion of nominations made by bettors.