The Rio de Janeiro State Lottery (Loterj) filed a lawsuit in a federal court on 29 October, aiming to annul the Secretariat of Prizes and Bets’ (SPA) list of approved operators in Brazil.
Loterj is refuting the legality of the SPA’s list of approved operators. In the lawsuit, Loterj has requested the list of federally approved operators be immediately suspended until the operators pay their required licence fee and face a bidding process to secure their licence.
Up to 100 operators and 223 brands were approved to continue operating in Brazil ahead of the legal online betting market launch on 1 January 2025. The initial list was released by the SPA on 2 October but has since been updated to include 11 additional companies.
As part of its case, Loterj insists the list was made before operators met all the regulator’s requirements, including paying the BRL30 million (£4 million/€4.7 million/$5.2 million) fee to obtain a betting licence. It also notes no bidding process was carried out by the Federal Supreme Court (STF), as was stipulated before licence applications were submitted.
Therefore, the state regulator believes approved operators have been given an unfair advantage. It believes its Loterj licensees should be classified as regulated and be able to operate until the end of 2024.
Those that haven’t been placed on the SPA’s approved list will face being blocked in Brazil. Close to 3,500 domains have already been blocked by the National Telecommunications Agency (Anatel) after the SPA published a second list of illegal operators on Thursday (31 October).
Yet another lawsuit involving Loterj in Brazil
Tuesday’s lawsuit is the latest move in an ongoing legal battle between Loterj and the federal government.
In October, Loterj requested a preliminary injunction to reject a government lawsuit banning Loterj licensees from operating outside Rio de Janeiro state borders.
A separate federal lawsuit filed on 11 October by the attorney general’s office challenged former regulations that give Loterj’s online betting licensees the power to operate nationally, despite them not having a federal licence.
It remains to be seen whether Loterj’s request for to block the case will be granted. If it is, the ongoing ban on nationwide activities for Loterj licensees would be lifted.
The SPA is also facing a host of additional legal cases from operators that have been left off the approved list but believe they meet the requirements to be included on it.
