Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has won re-election against Flávio Bolsonaro in a runoff that returns the architect of the country's fixed-odds betting ban to office.
The Superior Electoral Court said Lula received 64,256,232 votes, or 51.79% of valid ballots, while Bolsonaro took 59,826,041 votes, or 48.21%. The result was announced Sunday.
For operators, the result preserves the administration that introduced Provisional Measure 1,394 on September 25. The measure prohibits the operation, offer, intermediation and advertising of fixed-odds betting, covering sports wagers and online casino-style games. It applies to offshore providers serving people in Brazil and to state-level authorizations.
The transition has already reshaped the regulated market. New deposits were prohibited from the measure's publication, and previously authorized betting sites and apps were required to go offline on October 6.
Existing authorizations were set to expire 30 days after publication, coinciding with Sunday's runoff.
The Justice Ministry said on October 6 that 187 of the 188 formerly authorized sites were offline, with a block requested for the remaining platform. Citing figures from the Secretaria de Prêmios e Apostas, it said 13,241 illegal betting sites had been referred for blocking since September 25. That enforcement task continues after the licensed operators closed.
Lula signaled during the campaign that he did not intend to restore betting. In an October 22 livestream, he said the platforms would not return, according to Poder360.
His re-election does not settle the measure's long-term legal status: Congress must approve it for permanent effect and can amend or reject it.
Congress's official tracker gives November 23 as the initial deadline for deliberation. The Supreme Federal Court also reported in September that two industry associations had brought constitutional challenges seeking to suspend the ban, including a dispute over the loss of existing authorizations.
The election therefore reinforces the president's stated position without replacing those separate legislative and judicial processes. The provisional measure expressly excludes other lottery products authorized under Brazilian law, a distinction from its prohibition on fixed-odds betting.
On 23 October, Global Gaming Insider reported a Sebrae survey finding that 66% of micro and small businesses supported the betting ban, while 26% linked online betting to lower revenue.
Lula trailed Flávio Bolsonaro 45.16% to 47.03% in the first round before reversing the result on Sunday, according to the electoral court
