Brazil's Federal Government has published Ordinance MESP No. 27/2026, setting out which sports and sporting entities may be the subject of fixed-odds betting on real sporting events and excluding competitions involving youth categories or underage athletes.
The measure, published on April 9, follows the framework established under Law No. 14,790/2023, which regulated fixed-odds betting in Brazil after the segment had operated for years without a full regulatory structure.
Fixed-odds betting had originally been authorized in 2018 under Law No. 13,756/2018.
Under the new ordinance, matches involving youth categories or events exclusively involving underage athletes cannot be offered for betting in any sport.
Betting is also prohibited on non-professional sporting events and competitions that are not officially recognized by the competent authorities, particularly where athletes have no ties to recognized sporting bodies or do not meet legal professionalization criteria.
The ordinance includes a list of sports and disciplines permitted for fixed-odds betting. These cover sports recognized by the International Olympic Committee, the International Paralympic Committee and the International Committee of Sports for the Deaf, as well as sports included in the Pan-American Program that do not overlap with the Olympic Program.
Other authorized activities include motor racing, beach tennis, billiards, bocce, capoeira, bodybuilding, beach soccer, Jiu-Jitsu, karting, MMA, motorcycling, skydiving, fishing and chess. Equestrian disciplines recognized under Law No. 13.364/2016 are also included.
The regulation also permits betting on esports tournaments where the event has been licensed or authorized by the developer or intellectual property rights holder of the game.
However, it states that developers and rights holders may not restrict betting operations to a single operator or require exclusivity arrangements. Equal access conditions and free competition must be maintained under current legislation.
The Ministry of Sports will be responsible for updating and publishing the list of authorized sports and may add new disciplines, including esports, based on regulatory recognition and official authorization standards.
The ordinance follows another recent step in Brazil's betting oversight framework. In March, the Ministry of Finance introduced SPA/MF Ordinance No. 784/2026 to standardize revenue collection from fixed-odds betting and unify payment codes for sector-related allocations.
The Ministry of Sports can add new sports and esports categories to the authorized betting list as regulatory recognition develops
