Brazil’s federal government has filed a civil lawsuit against 17 betting companies, seeking reimbursement for costs it says gambling-related harm has pushed onto the country’s public health system. The Attorney General’s Office, or AGU, filed the action in the Federal Court of Pernambuco on Sept. 28, and it also demands at least R$1 billion in collective moral damages.
Between them, the 17 companies run 20 betting brands: Betano, bet365, Superbet, Sportingbet, Esportes da Sorte, OnaBet, Blaze, BetNacional, EstrelaBet, 7K, Cassino, 7Games, Betão, Vai de Bet, H2 Bet, Pixbet, Novibet, BullsBet, Betfair, and KTO. The AGU picked them because those brands account for around 80% of Brazil’s estimated fixed-odds betting market, though the filing itself says market share alone doesn’t establish liability.
Part of the cost of gambling-related health problems has been shifted onto Brazil’s Unified Health System, or SUS, while operators kept the revenue, the government argues. Data cited in the case shows SUS treatment linked to pathological gambling and excessive betting rising roughly 140% between 2018 and 2025, and preliminary Ministry of Health estimates put the resulting public health costs at around R$2.6 billion. The final figure for material damages would only be worked out later if the government wins.
The AGU also wants operators to repay twice the amount wagered by people diagnosed with gambling disorder, in cases where companies allegedly kept allowing access or processing deposits after learning of the diagnosis or after identifiable risk indicators showed up. The filing cites figures suggesting more than 28 million Brazilians gambled in the previous 12 months, with 10.9 million showing risky or problematic behavior.
Only 0.12% of the mandatory allocations from operators actually reach the Ministry of Health, according to figures in the filing, with betting companies transferring around R$50 million in the most recent financial year it covers. The government is using the gap between those payments and its estimated health costs as part of the case for direct reimbursement from the operators themselves.
Judge Hélio Sílvio Ourem Campos of the Federal Court of Pernambuco has already asked for more before the case goes any further, giving the AGU 30 days to specify which health conditions the claim covers, which public expenses it wants back, the evidence behind those costs, the period in question, and objective criteria for working out each operator’s individual responsibility.
Folha de S.Paulo also spotted an apparent drafting error, reporting that part of the petition referred to cigarettes, in language lifted from a separate government case against the tobacco industry. The AGU acknowledged the passage as a material error but said it doesn’t invalidate the betting lawsuit.
The case was filed three days after President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva issued the provisional measure banning fixed-odds betting nationwide, ending the operation, offer, intermediation, and advertising of betting, with licensed sites and apps due to go offline from Oct. 6. Industry groups have challenged that ban at the Supreme Federal Court, arguing that the government is cancelling authorizations operators paid R$30 million each to obtain.
None of that challenge affects the lawsuit, which stands on its own and requires the government to prove both the alleged health costs and each defendant’s individual responsibility. No company has been found liable, and the court’s request means the AGU now has to build a far more detailed basis for its R$1 billion collective damages claim and the wider reimbursement it wants from the sector.