Brazil may ban gambling ads in public transport, school zones
The legislative offensive against the massive exposure to gambling in Brazil adds a new chapter with Bill No. 624/2026, presented by federal deputy Ana Paula Lima. The proposal seeks to drastically restrict fixed-odds sports betting advertising in spaces considered sensitive and across the entire public transport network. If approved, the regulation would amend the current Law 14.790/2023 to ban advertisements in schools, health centers, bus terminals, train stations, and any areas predominantly frequented by children and adolescents, attempting to curb the impact of marketing campaigns in high-traffic urban environments.
The justification for the project is supported by revealing data on the business volume represented by advertising in public services. According to records obtained through the Access to Information Law, the city of São Paulo alone collected more than 718,000 reais between 2022 and October 2025 through the display of sports betting advertisements on municipal buses. For Deputy Lima, this constant presence in state-owned public goods saturates the public's perception and requires a stricter control framework that prioritizes public health and the protection of minors.
Greater transparency in state advertising contracts
A fundamental pillar of the initiative is the reform of the Concessions Law to oblige public service providers to make their advertising revenues transparent. The project requires concessionaires to maintain separate accounting records for these purposes, grant full access to contracts to the granting authorities, and publish freely accessible quarterly reports. The objective is for society to be able to monitor whether the resources obtained from sports betting advertising are effectively being reinvested in improvements for public service users or if they remain solely as private benefits.
This project joins a growing trend in the Brazilian Federal Congress to limit the scope of the gambling industry. Earlier this month, the Senate's Science and Technology Committee already gave the green light to a proposal that seeks to prohibit the sponsorship and promotion of sports betting across all media and social networks. If the law promoted by Lima moves forward, companies would have a period of 180 days to adapt their current contracts, marking a radical change in the aesthetics and financing of urban infrastructure in major Brazilian cities.
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