TLDR
- A bill to ban betting company advertising in Belo Horizonte was pulled from a vote on June 10 due to lack of council support
- Councilor Pedro Rousseff withdrew the bill, delaying it until at least July
- A second linked bill was also halted automatically under local legislature rules
- Supporters cite gambling addiction and debt as reasons for the proposed ban
- Other Brazilian cities including Teresina have already passed similar advertising restrictions
Belo Horizonte’s city council will not vote on a betting advertising ban anytime soon. The bill’s sponsor pulled it from the agenda after realizing he didn’t have enough votes to pass it.
Councilor Pedro Rousseff withdrew the proposal at a plenary session on June 10. A second round of voting required at least 21 approvals from attending councilors, and Rousseff said he didn’t have that support.
“We lacked support today, so we asked for postponing it for one month,” Rousseff told Estado de Minas. He said he wants to consult all 41 councilors before bringing it back.
This is the second time the bill has been delayed. The first pause came in April when the Belo Horizonte municipal administration asked for time to review it.
Two Bills, One Goal
The withdrawn bill was not alone. A second related bill, sponsored by Councilor Ferreira, was also stopped automatically under local legislature rules. Bills attached to a withdrawn proposal cannot move forward on their own.
The two bills target betting advertising in different ways. Rousseff’s focuses on public spaces and social media advertising. Ferreira’s goes further, covering agreements between city institutions and betting operators, giveaways, tournaments, kiosks, and naming rights on municipal property.
Ferreira was critical of the delay. He argued that residents would keep being exposed to betting ads while the debate drags on.
“People of our municipality will keep receiving those advertisements. They will continue suffering from addiction. Many of them have loan sharks at their door,” he said during his council speech.
Gambling Ads at Carnival
Ferreira pointed to betting promotions at Belo Horizonte’s Carnival as evidence of the problem. He said ads were visible throughout Municipal Park and along Avenida Afonso Pena during the event.
He said the city’s tourism agency, Belotur, had signed agreements with betting companies and spread advertising across the city.
Rousseff said he still plans to reintroduce the bill next month. He described it as “way too important” not to pass.
He also said approving it would make Belo Horizonte the first Brazilian capital to restrict betting advertising this way. However, other cities have already moved in this direction.
Teresina passed legislation earlier this year regulating betting ads on municipal public property. Goiânia is also considering a similar bill.
At the state level, Rio Grande do Sul approved new betting advertising restrictions in April. The National Association of Gaming and Lotteries challenged those rules, arguing that advertising regulation is a matter for the federal government alone.
The bill is expected to return to the Belo Horizonte council agenda in July.
