Stake granted injunction to operate in Brazil until 25 October
A São Paulo federal judge has partially granted Stake's request to keep operating in Brazil, pending a wider legal challenge to Lula's gambling ban.
A federal court in São Paulo has granted Stake a partial injunction allowing it to keep operating in Brazil until 25 October, iGaming Business reported.
The order was signed by Federal Judge Cristiane Farias Rodrigues dos Santos of the 9th Federal Civil Court of São Paulo, following a lawsuit filed by the law firm Bichara e Motta on the operator's behalf.
Bichara e Motta had sought suspension of Provisional Measure 1.394 and asked that Stake be permitted to keep operating until 31 December 2029, when its operator licence is due to expire. The judge granted only part of that request, fixing the cut-off at 25 October rather than the full licence term.
The ruling requires Stake's website to be unblocked so the company can resume trading, and directs authorities not to treat its authorisation as terminated in the meantime. It also blocks access to the gov.br page the government had set up to inform bettors about the wind-down of the betting sector.
The 25 October deadline matches the date set in the provisional measure itself for the expiry of operators' licences. Explaining the reasoning, Judge Farias wrote that "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".
The judge also found that the administration cannot "fully anticipate the termination effects to a date prior to the time frame foreseen in the measure itself".
The decision follows President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva's move in late September to ban online gambling through the provisional measure. Before Stake's court win, two of Brazil's leading gambling trade bodies had already asked the Supreme Federal Court to overturn the ban, a case on which no ruling date has yet been set.
Conditions attached to the order
The court attached twelve conditions to Stake's continued operation. These include bans on betting by individuals excluded under law or regulatory programmes, a prohibition on wagering funded by social welfare payments, and a requirement to keep bettor-identification systems in place.
Stake is also barred from launching new promotional campaigns or initiatives aimed at expanding its user base, and from advertising to children or teenagers. It must preserve enough funds to cover outstanding customer balances, keep registration, financial and transaction records intact, and continue submitting the reports required by regulators.
Further conditions prohibit the company from operating through unauthorised domains, from using the court's decision to shield clandestine operators or third parties misusing the Stake brand, and require it to maintain measures against fraud, counterfeiting and trademark misuse.
Bichara e Motta described the ruling as significant for the wider fixed-odds betting sector. "This is the first favourable decision for a fixed-odds betting operator in Brazil in the legal dispute regarding the effects of Provisional Measure No. 1,394/2026," the firm said.
The firm added that Stake's broader request to keep operating through to the original 2029 expiry of its authorisation has not been resolved and "remains subject to merit review".