Stake Brazil wins court order to operate until October 25 under strict conditions
A federal judge granted the operator a partial injunction, allowing it to continue offering fixed-odds betting for a limited time.
A federal judge in São Paulo has granted Stake Brazil a partial injunction allowing it to continue operating until October 25, 2026, despite a recent nationwide ban on online betting.
Judge Cristiane Farias Rodrigues dos Santos of the 9th Federal Civil Court issued the ruling on October 8, preventing authorities from blocking the stake.bet.br domain or terminating the company's licence before that date.
The decision is a temporary reprieve for the licensed operator, which had asked the court to allow it to operate until its original authorization expired in December 2029.
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"The decision represents an important signal for Stake Brasil and for all those who operate under state authorisation and supervision," a company spokesperson said in a statement.
The judge declined to grant the longer-term request without first hearing from the relevant government bodies, which now have 10 days to respond.
She noted that Stake's licence does not guarantee an unchanged regulatory framework for its full term, but recognized that its investment created legal interests authorities must consider.
In court filings, Stake reported investing approximately R$128.2 million in its Brazilian operations and paying R$30 million for its licence.
The company employs 41 people in the country.
The injunction comes with 12 strict conditions.
Stake must maintain anti-money laundering, age verification, responsible gambling and self-exclusion controls.
It cannot introduce new promotions, acquisition bonuses or other initiatives aimed at growing its customer base.
The operator must also prevent betting by people legally barred from gambling and block the use of funds from social programmes.
"Stake Brasil understands that consumer protection is one of the main benefits of a regulated market," the company spokesperson said.
The ruling applies only to Stake and does not suspend the wider ban imposed by Provisional Measure No. 1.394/2026, which was signed by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva last month.
The judge found that the measure itself established October 25 as the date for existing authorizations to expire, making it illogical to terminate them earlier.
"If the authorisation were legally nonexistent from the publication of the provisional measure, there would be no reason for the rule to establish a specific later date for its termination," she said.
The case will be referred to federal prosecutors after the government's response.
The request to preserve Stake's licence through 2029 may be reconsidered at that time.
"To our knowledge, we are the first licensed operator to get a decision of this kind," the Stake spokesperson said.
Law firm Bichara e Motta, representing Stake, called it the first favourable decision for a fixed-odds betting operator in the legal dispute over the provisional measure.
The court order provides no guarantee of continued operations beyond October 25.