The National Confederation of Commerce (CNC), a lobbying group for retailers and service providers, filed a petition with Brazil’s Supreme Court on Tuesday, seeking to overturn a law regulating sports betting. The CNC argues that the rise of online gambling has siphoned revenue away from other industries, causing significant losses.
The legislation was introduced by the Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva administration and approved by Congress late in 2023.
The CNC argues that the legislation caused an “exponential” growth of online gambling in Brazil, pushing many families into debt — “considerably damaging the domestic economy, retail trade, and social development.” The organization estimated that online betting has caused BRL 1.1 billion (USD 200 million) in losses to retail in the first semester of 2024 alone.
Besides the impacts on the economy, the lawsuit adds, sports betting also impacts mental health and access to credit, “since debt generates default, which makes access to credit difficult and more expensive.”
For the CNC, the ease of access to online gambling and the lack of policies to prevent…