Stake Wins Court Bid to Keep Its Brazil License Until Oct. 25

A federal judge in São Paulo on Oct. 8 barred Brazil's government from ending Stake Brazil's betting license before Oct. 25. It is the first ruling in any operator's favor since Brazil banned sports betting and online casino games, according to multiple Brazilian reports.

Stake Brazil is the locally licensed arm of the global Stake brand. It says it paid R$30 million (about $6 million) for a license meant to run until Dec. 31, 2029. On Sept. 23, it held over 508,000 player wallets, and close to half of them had money in them.

Judge Blocks an Early Shutdown

The emergency order that Brazil's president signed on Sept. 25 has the force of law. It told sites to go offline after 10 days and ends every license after 30 days, with no refund of license fees. Licensed sites went dark on Oct. 6.

The Justice Ministry ordered stake.bet.br redirected from that same day, almost three weeks before the order's own deadline for ending licenses. Judge Cristiane Farias Rodrigues dos Santos ruled that the government cannot pull that date forward.

"If the authorization were legally nonexistent from the publication of the provisional measure, there would be no reason for the rule to set a specific later date for its extinction."

The judge wrote that in her decision. She also rejected Stake's main request to keep operating until 2029 and did not rule on whether the ban is constitutional.

Until Oct. 25, Stake must keep its age checks, anti-money-laundering and self-exclusion tools running. It may not launch promotions or sign-up bonuses. It must keep withdrawals open and hold enough money to pay every balance. Stake said its site was back online on Oct. 8.

Government Says It Will Appeal

Brazil's federal attorney general's office said in a statement that it will appeal, as reported by ND+. The ruling covers Stake alone.

The government bodies named in the case have 10 days to respond. Then the judge can revisit Stake's 2029 request. Unless a higher court or that review changes course, Stake's license ends on Oct. 25.

Treat gambling as entertainment you pay for. 18+, and if it stops feeling like entertainment, help exists at BeGambleAware and GamCare.