Football has a problem when it portrays the disappearance of betting companies as a threat to its very survival. Brazil’s decision to ban betting and its advertising demands a closer look at how far clubs have built their budgets around a business that also causes harm beyond the pitch. Lula’s government announced a provisional measure on Friday that bans new sponsorship deals and allows existing advertising to remain until October 5. Its scope therefore goes well beyond removing a few logos from shirts.
Clubs’ financial concerns are justified, but that does not make their revenue the deciding argument. According to a report by consultancy Convocados cited by Folha de S.Paulo, betting companies contributed around $200 million in sponsorship to Série A teams in 2025, a 66% increase on the previous year. Replacing that money will require renegotiating contracts, finding other brands and probably adjusting spending. But an industry growing accustomed to receiving ever more money from a single sector should have raised alarm bells long before the government decided to intervene.
Advertising that reaches every corner of football
The scale of the problem becomes clearer when looking at Europe. An Investigate Europe study of the 2024-25 season found betting partnerships at 296 of the 442 clubs examined across 31 top divisions; 14 of those competitions also carried the name of a gambling or lottery company. Their presence extended from every Premier League club to the majority of shirts in smaller markets such as Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria. These brands have bought advertising space, but also something more valuable: the familiarity and trust that come from seeing them alongside your club’s crest every week.
Nor is Brazil opening an unfamiliar debate. Spain banned gambling operators from sponsoring shirts and sports kits through Royal Decree 958/2020; Italy introduced a broad advertising ban through its 2018 Dignity Decree, and the Netherlands ended sports sponsorship by online gambling operators on July 1, 2025. These restrictions on promotion vary in scope and should be distinguished from the ban on the activity itself announced in Brazil. There is a trend towards limiting the association between betting and sport, although it remains far from a uniform response.
England neatly illustrates these contradictions: from the current 2026-27 season, the Premier League has voluntarily removed betting sponsorship from the front of matchday shirts, while the English Football League retains Sky Bet among its commercial partners. The Premier League’s measure has a specific scope and does not remove these companies from the entire matchday environment. That difference also points to an uneven transition: clubs with greater commercial appeal will have more alternatives, while smaller clubs may be forced to accept less money or cut their budgets. Protecting fans should be a shared obligation, regardless of the division their team plays in.
The precedent set by tobacco and alcohol
Sport has already travelled part of this road. The European Union banned cross-border tobacco sponsorship, including events such as Formula 1 races, while France’s Évin law imposed strict restrictions on alcohol advertising that also affect sports broadcasts. It should be made clear that alcohol has neither disappeared from sports advertising worldwide nor been subjected to a uniform ban. The relevant precedent is that an activity can be legal while still having limited access to the visibility and prestige that sport provides.
The comparison makes sense in terms of health and addiction, although their effects and mechanisms differ. The World Health Organization includes ending gambling advertising, promotion and sports sponsorship among the measures to reduce gambling-related harm. From that perspective, it is difficult to defend the idea that responsibility ends with a responsible gambling warning when everything else encourages people to bet. Football brings together children, families and people trying to overcome addiction; it should be able to offer them a match without turning every moment of their attention into a commercial opportunity for betting companies.
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