Brazil Court Cancels Stake Reprieve After One Day

Stake has lost its temporary exemption from Brazil's online gambling ban just one day after securing permission to continue operating until October 25.

On October 9, the president of the Federal Regional Court of the 3rd Region, TRF-3, suspended the preliminary injunction granted to Stake by the 9th Federal Civil Court of São Paulo a day earlier.

The higher court acted following an appeal from Brazil's Attorney General's Office, which represents the federal government in legal proceedings.

The decision means federal authorities can again apply the restrictions and blocking measures introduced under Provisional Measure No. 1,394/2026 to Stake.

Stake's Injunction Lasted Only One Day

Stake had secured its temporary reprieve on October 8.

The lower court allowed the operator to continue serving Brazilian customers until October 25, while rejecting its broader request to remain active until the end of its original federal authorisation in 2029.

The temporary permission was subject to multiple conditions, including a prohibition on launching new promotional campaigns and requirements to maintain player protection and regulatory controls.

Stake's domain was also protected from blocking while the injunction remained in effect.

That arrangement lasted approximately one day before the government successfully challenged it at TRF-3.

Court Cited Unequal Treatment of Operators

A central issue in the government's appeal was the competitive position created by the injunction.

Other previously licensed betting and online casino operators had already taken their Brazilian websites and apps offline from October 6 in accordance with the government's shutdown timetable.

Allowing Stake alone to continue operating would therefore place one company in a different position from other operators subject to the same provisional measure.

TRF-3 accepted that the exception could undermine uniform implementation of the ban and create unequal treatment within the formerly regulated market.

The court also considered the possibility that keeping the injunction in place could encourage other operators to seek similar individual exemptions.

Decision Does Not Rule on Constitutionality of Ban

The October 9 decision is procedural rather than a final ruling on the legality of Brazil's gambling prohibition.

TRF-3 did not decide whether Provisional Measure No. 1,394 is constitutional.

It also did not resolve Stake's underlying challenge to the measure.

The ruling instead suspends the lower court protection that temporarily allowed the operator to continue working while the wider dispute proceeds.

Questions over the constitutional validity of the gambling restrictions are being contested separately before the Supreme Federal Court.

Brazil's Licensed Market Remains Offline

Brazil's previously regulated betting and online casino platforms were required to stop operating from October 6.

The government introduced the shutdown through a provisional measure signed in September, ending the federal authorisations that had supported the regulated market.

Stake briefly became an exception when it obtained the October 8 injunction, potentially creating the first individual judicial route for a licensed operator to remain active after the shutdown.

TRF-3's intervention has closed that route for now.

The episode also illustrates how rapidly Brazil's gambling environment is changing through parallel proceedings in lower federal courts, the Supreme Federal Court and Congress.

For Stake, the immediate result is clear: the temporary permission to operate until October 25 has been suspended, restoring the company to the same regulatory position as other operators affected by the nationwide ban.