Brazil Follows in Spains’ Footsteps with Gambling Health Labels

Brazil is to follow in the footsteps of Spain, introducing compulsory tobacco-style label warnings on gambling sites. The good news for operators is that gambling ads are still allowed, albeit in tight scheduled windows, only cautiously on social media, and the content must be clearly not aimed at children. Now, the operators will need to slap on 18+ warning symbols and anti gambling disclaimers that quash any belief that some bettors have over the ability to make money with gambling.

The labels will state the hard truth for many gamblers, that betting is not an investment, nor is it a way to make quick money, and that it can be addictive. Furthermore, the Ministry of Finance outlined a few additional measures to battle the illegal market, with new non-compliance fines and continuing the betting site blocking campaigns already in place.

Brazil Wants Anti-Gambling Ad Disclaimers

Dario Durigan, the Finance Minister, stated that gambling ads in Brazil should have health warnings and disclaimers, and that this will be imposed from the 17th of July. These are intended to educate anyone who encounters gambling ads online, with simple and straight to the point messages about the dangers of gambling. The three examples given by the Minister were:

• Gambling makes you lose money (Apostar faz você perder dinheiro)
• Gambling can lead to addiction (Apostar faz pode causar dependência)
• Gambling is not investing (Apostar não é investimento)

It is being compared to the types of warning labels Brazil has for cigarette products and alcohol, but these disclaimers are not something new to the wider, global iGaming industry. And from July 17th, the 85 registered online gambling companies in Brazil must comply.

Similarities to Spanish Disclaimers

For just last year, the Spanish gambling authorities, DGOJ, introduced a mandatory disclaimer for Spanish gambling sites, and it does not stick to ads alone. Quite the contrary, on the betting sites and online casino platforms themselves, there must be warning slogans in visible headspace. These slogans are:

• Gambling addiction is a risk of gambling
• The probability of being a losing gambler is 75%
• Losses for all gamblers are four times greater than their winnings

Punchy stuff. The DGOJ designed these to help ward off any younger players or more vulnerable parties who may get introduced to gambling without such warnings or responsible gambling education. Having these printed out onto the gambling sites is taking it a step further than Brazil, but given the continuous Brazilian reforms on gambling ads and legislation, it may not be surprising if they, too, decided to extend these disclaimers from only gambling ads to the sites themselves.

Brazil only legalized online sports betting at the beginning of 2025, but in the time between then and now, it has tightened the market significantly. Dual gambling taxes, platform-based gambling ad restrictions, monthly spending caps and blocking payment methods – including cutting off cryptocurrency payments entirely – have all helped build a very stringent iGaming space for Brazilian players and operators.

Battling Illegal Betting Sites

And it does not stop there. Alongside the gambling ad health warnings, the Minister of Finance then addressed the illegal gambling scene in Brazil. He said that in conjunction with the Ministry of Justice, the gaming authorities in Brazil will clamp down on illegal gambling operators targeting Brazilian players in their ads. Durigan reported that the Brazilian gaming authority had already taken down over 56,000 betting sites, and nearly 1,000 influencer profiles.

The first year of legal sports betting in Brazil was a challenging time for the gaming authority. As online sports betting was launched, the authorities also continuously tweaked the regulations and stepped up their efforts against the black market. In addition to the tax changes, ban on ePayment gateways and stricter player protection measures, Brazil also suspended municipal lotteries to cut out any operators exploiting loopholes between local regulations and federal mandates. And in 2026, that momentum has continued as Brazil was quick to ban prediction markets, blocking the major US-facing operators Kalshi and Polymarket, as well as 25+ others.

Commentators Must Be Careful Too

Back to the news at hand, and the final little detail that the Minister of Finance relayed is quite an interesting one. It was brought up as a warning to commentators and experts, telling them to practise caution when talking about betting products. In his words,

“[It is not permissible to mix] a comment from someone who is an expert, a commentator, specialized in a particular game, a particular subject. Him saying that the best bet is one thing, or that the path to be taken is that one, therefore inducing the consumer to adopt a certain practice with a veneer of technical support. So, this should not be done,”

These experts are not allowed to use their influence or their expertise to encourage listeners to bet, pointing at “easy bets”, or give the impression that betting could be used as a financial investment, or worse, a financial solution. This pretty much lines up with the advertising laws on celebrity endorsements, marketing affiliates and social media gambling influencers in Brazil. There are no outright bans on celebrities talking about betting, or social media bloggers bringing up the subject of gambling, or even displaying any gambling-related branding in their content. However, they have to have the right disclaimers, and cannot present gambling in the wrong light to the people who digest the content.

A Positive Takeaway for Regulated Operators

Brazil’s advertising reforms are to come into effect from July 17, and given that it only involves slapping on health warnings it shouldn’t cause too much concern to most operators. While these are quite uncommon around the world, there are precedents like Spain that show how gaming authorities are trying to curb the gambling inducements and still give the operators enough space to compete.

Just compare it to the situation in the Netherlands, where there are age-tiered restrictions on gambling ads, and the Dutch authorities are tightening down the space for operators, even banning Share Your Bet features on social media. Or, compare it to the Philippines, where the authorities are considering a total gambling ad ban.

Where there are fewer ads, there is also less opportunity for the smaller brands to get a shoe in. Bigger brands do not benefit much from gambling ad restrictions either, as it makes their job of winning players from offshore and unregulated gray markets all the more difficult.

Brazil has not taken away the opportunity for these regulated gambling sites to advertize their bonuses, campaigns and products to players. What’s more, the doubling-down efforts to target illegal operators and block their ads are a strong signal to regulated operators that Brazil is building a tighter, yet justly regulated market.