São Paulo federal court lets Stake operate in Brazil until 25 October under 12 conditions

The Federal Court of São Paulo has partially granted an injunction to betting operator Stake, allowing it to operate in Brazil until 25 October. The decision was signed by Federal Judge Cristiane Farias Rodrigues dos Santos of the 9th Federal Civil Court of São Paulo, who also ordered that the company's website be unblocked.

The case was filed by the law firm Bichara e Motta. It asked the court to suspend Provisional Measure 1.394 and to let Stake continue operating until 31 December 2029, when its operator licence expires. The judge granted only part of that request. Under the ruling, the authorities must not treat Stake's authorisation as terminated, and the blocking of its platform is suspended. The order also stops access to the gov.br website that the government created to guide bettors about the end of the betting process.

The injunction follows President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva's ban on online gambling through a provisional measure in late September. Before Stake's court win, two of Brazil's main gambling trade bodies asked the Supreme Federal Court to overturn the ban. It is not yet clear when that court will rule.

The 25 October date matches the expiry date for operators' licences set in the provisional measure itself. In her reasoning, the judge said that if the authorisation had been legally void from the moment the measure was published, there would be no reason for the rule to set a later termination date. She added that the administration cannot fully bring forward the effects of termination to a date before the period the measure itself provides.

The court attached 12 conditions to the resumption of operations. Stake must not accept bets from people barred by law, government programmes or regulatory mechanisms, and must not allow gambling with money from social programmes. It must keep its systems for identifying bettors, let customers withdraw their balances, and hold enough funds to cover outstanding balances. It must also preserve registration, financial and transactional records and keep sending the reports regulators require.

Other conditions bar advertising aimed at children and teenagers, new promotional campaigns and initiatives to expand the user base, and operation through unauthorised domains. Stake may not use the ruling to legitimise clandestine operators or third parties who misuse its brand, and it must keep up measures against fraud, counterfeiting and trademark misuse.

Bichara e Motta called the ruling the first favourable decision for a fixed-odds betting operator in the dispute over the effects of Provisional Measure 1.394/2026. The firm noted that the request to continue operating until the original expiry of the authorisation remains subject to merit review.