Rio de Janeiro bans sports betting ads in public spaces
Rio is the first Brazilian state capital to enact such a restriction.
Brazil.- Rio de Janeiro has prohibited advertising for sports betting platforms in public spaces. The ban covers street furniture, city-sponsored events and any location where advertising requires municipal authorisation.
The measure took effect with the publication of Decree No. 58,274 in the city’s official gazette on Monday, making Rio the first Brazilian state capital to enact such a restriction. Municipal officers began enforcement the same day by covering or removing existing billboards.
At the Siqueira Campos subway station in Copacabana, officers replaced a betting platform billboard with a municipal banner that read “Sports betting ad removed” ane included a warning statiny that online betting can cause addiction, debt, financial instability and family breakdown.
The news comes three days after the federal government published two ordinances that tightened advertising rules for licensed betting operators across Brazil. Interministerial Ordinance No. 73, signed by the Finance Ministry, Justice Ministry and Presidential Communications Secretariat, bars advertisements that portray fixed-odds betting as an investment, extra income or a solution to financial problems. It also prohibits messages that encourage immediate wagers and sports analysis capable of inducing viewers to bet during live events.
Finance Ministry Ordinance No. 1,964 requires licensed operators to include mandatory warning labels on all advertisements, including the statements “betting is not an investment” and “betting makes you lose money.”
