Two rules of the well-known “Bets Law” are expected to be invalidated by the Federal Supreme Court (STF). These include the prohibition of granting lottery services to the same economic group in more than one state, and the restriction on advertising by state lotteries to individuals located in the state. The trial is expected to end this Friday (12).
The STF Plenary formed a majority, this Thursday (11), so the same company will be able to operate lotteries in different states and advertise these services anywhere.
Also known as the Sports Betting Law, the law was approved on the penultimate day of 2023. The case under review concerns only modalities such as number lotteries, numbered tickets, and instant lotteries. Therefore, issues related to fixed-odds bets are under separate proceedings.
The governors of São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Minas Gerais, Paraná, Mato Grosso do Sul, Acre, and the Federal District filed the lawsuit regarding lotteries. Furthermore, the officials alleged that the restrictions imposed by the law reduce companies’ participation in public tenders.
This fosters a competitive environment between states, with some states likely to lose more than others. States with larger populations, or those with greater purchasing power, would be more attractive.
Another argument is the violation of free competition, as lotteries were deprived of the right to exploit their full advertising potential to attract new users.
Rapporteur is in favor of the unconstitutionality of the rules
Luiz Fux, the reporting judge in the case, voted in favor of declaring the two contested rules unconstitutional. So far, he has been joined by Flávio Dino, Gilmar Mendes, Alexandre de Moraes, Dias Toffoli, and Cristiano Zanin.
In Fux’s view, the restrictions imposed by law prevent states from offering service concessions to a greater number of interested companies, through the appropriate bidding process.
The minister found that there is no reasonable justification for prohibiting the concession of lottery services to an economic group in more than one state. Fux emphasized that this is not provided for in Article 175 of the Constitution, which deals with concessions or permissions for the provision of public services.
The rapporteur also found that there is no valid justification for preventing states from adopting “advertising strategies that make the most sense for them, according to their business plans.” After all, the law already prohibits a state from offering lottery services to individuals located in another state’s territory.
Although they agreed with the rapporteur, the other ministers made minor reservations to emphasize that the Legislature can still limit the states’ authority to organize the provision of their respective public services, in order to protect the economic order and foster an environment of healthy competition.
