Meridian Writes Off $5.5m Brazil Licence as Congress Extends Betting Ban

Brazil's Congress extended the betting ban in Provisional Measure (MP) 1,394/2026 by 60 days on 11 November 2026, a day after Meridian Holdings wrote off its $5.5m Brazilian license in its third-quarter results.

The extension keeps the measure in force while lawmakers decide whether to confirm it. According to Brasil de Fato, Senator Davi Alcolumbre, president of Congress, signed the act, which appeared in the Diário Oficial da União (DOU), Brazil's official gazette, on 11 November. The original deadline was 23 November. A measure that is not voted by early March 2027 lapses, and betting would then be allowed again.

What MP 1,394 prohibits

The measure bans all fixed-odds betting in Brazil, physical or virtual, and it is wider than a ban on online gambling. A provisional measure is a presidential decree with the force of law that Congress must confirm. MP 1,394 was published in the DOU on 25 September 2026 under art. 62 of the Constitution and amends Law 14.790 of 29 December 2023, the framework covered in our report on Lula's approval of the sports betting law.

The no-compensation rule matters most for licensed operators. They paid grant fees under the regime set out in the 2023 key dates and regulations and the later betting tax revisions, and the measure returns none of it.

Where Congress and the courts stand

The measure is in force, but its fate is undecided in both branches. In Congress, urgency status was approved on 9 November and 99 amendments have been filed. The joint committee that must review the text has not been installed. The final deadline is reported as 4 March 2027 by O Tempo, Focus and BNLData, and as 5 March 2027 by Brasil de Fato. Brasil de Fato adds that if the vote slips to February, the newly elected parliamentarians would decide it.

In the courts, Justice Luiz Fux of the Supreme Court (STF) suspended nationwide all cases challenging MP 1,394 until the STF rules definitively. The STF posted the news on 9 November, and Brasil de Fato dates the order to Sunday 8 November. He acted in direct action of unconstitutionality (ADI) 8027, after the Prosecutor-General's Office (PGR) asked on 6 November. Four ADIs are already pending at the STF: 8024, 8027, 8028 and 8035.

Fux cited the risk of conflicting rulings, because lower-court judges had granted provisional decisions suspending the measure. The order applies now and goes to the full court for referendum. The suspension freezes the lower-court route that some operators were pursuing, leaving the STF and Congress as the decisive forums.

Meridian's Q3 numbers and stance

Meridian Holdings (MRDN) filed its results with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on 10 November 2026. Brazil was a small revenue line, so the damage shows mainly in the write-off and the loss of the market from Q4.

The company ties the revenue shortfall to customer-favorable sports results, lower revenue at RKings and Classics for a Cause, and the Brazil suspension. Impairments are non-cash charges that hit the loss, not revenue. Debt fell for the seventh consecutive quarter. Nine-month revenue rose 10% to $146.3m, with Meridianbet Group up 16% to $103.8m and online casino up 21%.

On the earnings call, management put Brazil at under 1% of group revenue, and the company's release says "Revenue from Brazil was not material." The $5.5m write-off splits into $4.1m for the license and $1.4m for the domain and player database. The CFO called it a prudent response to uncertainty.

CEO Zoran Milosevic said the decision is "to stay in Brazil and to exhaust every single possible legal way" to resume, according to the call transcript. Meridian will keep an office and minimal costs "while Congress and the courts decide on the measure" and set its next steps by the outcome. Full-year 2026 revenue guidance is $195m to $198m, assuming no Brazilian operations this year. The earlier second-half outlook should no longer be relied upon.

What operators and suppliers should watch

Three dates and decisions will shape the market from here:

• Committee installation. The joint committee has not been installed, and a vote cannot proceed without it.
• STF referendum. The full court will review Fux's suspension, and the pending ADIs will test the measure's constitutionality.
• Early March 2027. A lapse would end the ban, but a vote slipping into February would put the decision with the new parliament.

The measure also sits against a long policy arc, from the rollout debate in President Lula's comments ahead of the 2025 launch to a total ban. Operators with Brazilian assets face the same choice Meridian made: write down, hold a minimal presence, or exit.

Status reviewed on 11 November 2026. Figures come from Meridian's SEC filing, the official text of MP 1,394, the STF news item and Brazilian press reports on the Congress extension. More regulation news and LatAm and Caribbean coverage.