
Key points:
- Provisional licenses were given to operators that had paid the $4.8m license fee to regulators, but are still facing issues with its applications
- The aim of the new ordinance is to ease the certification process in hopes of assisting operators in meeting its 30-day provisional deadline
The Secretariat of Prizes and Bets (SPA) has published a new ordinance in the hopes of temporarily solving certification delays for sports betting operators given provisional authorization to conduct business in Brazil.
Brazil launched its legal sports betting market on January 1, 2025, as 14 operators received full licenses to begin operations, while 52 companies were given provisional authorization. The betting operators that received licenses had also paid the $4.8m license fee needed to gain approval.
Those which received the provisional authorization have still faced difficulties gaining certification from Brazilian regulators however. The provisional licenses allow said operators to conduct business in normal fashion while applications are meant to be completed.
The period currently runs through January 30, but can be extended by another 30 days if testing laboratories state that more time is needed to carry out full certification for an operator. The high level of interest from sports betting operators in entering the Brazil market has resulted in overloaded laboratories, according to the SPA.
Good to know: Rei do Pitaco was granted a license from the SPA on January 14 to begin operating online sports betting and gaming in Brazil
The Secretariat chose to then publish the new ordinance, hoping to ease the certification process in Brazil and help betting companies meet the initial 30-day deadline of January 30.
By that date, operators must submit documents to the SPA such as technical certificates for betting systems, sports betting servers or remote game servers and an online gaming certificate. Operators only wishing to offer iGaming are not required to submit certifications for sportsbook servers and integrations.
On February 1, provisionally-licensed operators offering online games must also submit certifications for those games and live studios with the Online Games Index Document.