Rio de Janeiro Bans Betting Advertising in Public Spaces Amid Debates over Municipal Authority to Regulate the Matter

The Municipality of Rio de Janeiro enacted Municipal Decree No. 58,274 on July 13, 2026, with the purpose of prohibiting the advertising of online betting platforms, commonly referred to as “bets,” in public spaces. The Decree is based on the definition of “outdoor advertising” set forth in Complementary Law No. 269/2023, which is defined as advertising displayed outside the home environment (Out-of-Home or OOH media) in public spaces and high-traffic areas. As a result, Rio de Janeiro has become the first city in Brazil to adopt a restriction of this scope on betting advertising.

The following day, the City of Belo Horizonte enacted Municipal Decree No. 19,654, which prohibits the installation of static or digital advertisements promoting betting operators on urban furniture and municipal public property, as well as their use in municipal concessions and events promoted by the public administration.

These measures reflect a broader global trend toward restricting this type of advertising. In Spain, Royal Decree 958/2020, which came into force in 2021, prohibited advertising for betting operators and online gambling on television, radio, and digital platforms, limiting online advertisements to specific time slots; Italy, through the 2018 Decreto Dignità, imposed a comprehensive ban on advertising and sponsorship related to betting activities in any format, including sports; and, more recently, the Premier League in the United Kingdom prohibited betting sponsorships on the front-of-shirt position of club jerseys.

In this context, Municipal Decree No. 58,274, taking into account recent discussions regarding the social impacts associated with online betting platforms, primarily prohibits the display of: (i) trademarks; (ii) digital platforms; (iii) commercial promotions; (iv) institutional or promotional campaigns; (v) bonuses, prizes, or incentives related to betting activities; and (vi) logos, symbols, visual elements, mascots, slogans, or any other elements intended to directly or indirectly identify fixed-odds betting operations or platforms engaged in such activities.

Accordingly, based on the definition of outdoor advertising set forth in Complementary Law No. 269/2023, betting advertisements are prohibited in:

• Public Areas, including public streets and roads, sidewalks, public thoroughfares, squares, parks and gardens, airspace, maritime, river, and lake areas, seafront areas, and rights-of-way along roads, railways, and highways;

• Private Open-Air Areas, including building façades, open areas of developed and undeveloped properties, properties under construction or renovation, construction fencing and protective screens where permitted, and private lots featuring billboards, advertising boards, prisms, or similar structures;

• Freely Accessible Areas, including shopping arcades, corridors and common areas of shopping centers and commercial centers, as well as common internal areas of establishments open to the public, where the advertising is subject to the provisions of the Law;

• Street Furniture and Public Equipment, including bus shelters, newsstands, time and temperature displays, information kiosks (MUPIs), public restrooms, and kiosks;

• Means of Transportation and Vehicles, including freight vehicles, taxis, buses, subway and railway cars, ferries, light rail vehicles (VLT), motorcycles, bicycles and tricycles displaying promotional panels, as well as aircraft, hang gliders, ultralight aircraft, blimps, and similar vehicles; and

• Specific Locations and Structures, including gas stations, stadiums and club facilities, cultural venues, theaters, museums and entertainment venues, temporary event areas, and inflatable balloons located on private property during events.

Nevertheless, venues intended for private activities may continue to display betting advertisements, since prior authorization from the Municipality is not required in such settings, as is the case with stores located inside shopping centers and internal areas of metro stations.

Municipal Decree No. 58,274 reflects the increasing attention being paid by public authorities to gambling advertising in Brazil and may signal a broader trend toward enhanced regulatory scrutiny of advertising practices within the betting sector. Notwithstanding its stated objectives, questions may arise regarding the Municipality’s authority to regulate advertising matters.

The Brazilian Federal Constitution grants the Federal Government exclusive legislative authority over commercial advertising (Article 22, XXIX), while providing concurrent legislative authority to the States with respect to consumer protection, public health, environmental matters, and the protection of children and adolescents, and granting Municipalities legislative authority over matters of local interest, supplementary legislation, and urban planning. Accordingly, municipal powers encompass urban planning and protective measures that may affect advertising, but not necessarily the direct regulation of advertising content or of a specific economic sector.

In the past, the Brazilian Supreme Federal Court (STF) addressed this issue by striking down a state law that restricted the content of commercial advertisements on the grounds that it encroached upon the Federal Government’s exclusive legislative authority. Similarly, in the context of betting advertising, Municipal Decree No. 58,274 does not merely establish general rules regarding the form or location of advertisements (as is the case, for example, with São Paulo’s Municipal Law No. 14,223/2006, known as the “Clean City Law”), but rather targets a specific industry and prohibits the display of its brands, websites, applications, slogans, and other identifying elements.

Although the Municipality may rely on public policy considerations related to the protection of the urban landscape and public health, particularly the protection of children and adolescents, the restrictions imposed by the Decree may give rise to debates regarding their compatibility with the Federal Government’s exclusive authority to legislate on commercial advertising and with the existing federal regulatory framework applicable to the betting sector.