Sports betting and gaming in the Latin American region continues to develop, but Yossi Abadi, CEO of Tenlot, believes that many international operators drawn to the sector are not taking the appropriate steps.

Speaking on the SBC Leaders Podcast, Abadi – whose experience in the Latin American betting sector led Forbes to name him ‘the most recognised Israeli’ in the region – shared his views with SBC’s Global Relationship Director, Kelly Kehn, arguing that the Latin American market poses significant opportunities for global operators, but many are not using the right approach.

“Of course the South American market is very mature, you can see that in Argentina and Uruguay, you can see the great legislative transformation that we see in Brazil, that is a continental sized effect,” he began.

“A lot of unregulated countries are going to the path of regulation, but then if you take into consideration the fact that Central America has so few innovative products implemented and that the operators that actually access the market are international operators that just added another IP into their system, you understand that the people are much more interested in having a local operator.”

Furthermore, Adabi stated that operators must do away with an inaccurate view that local bettors in LatAm markets are unfamiliar with certain technology – a viewpoint he described as believing that ‘in less developed countries there is less developed technology’.

Using Tenlot’s experience as a lottery provider in Kenya as an example, he observed that the company’s mobile performance in this market was much stronger than some would expect.

Adapting this outlook to Latin American consumers, he added: “They use it on a daily basis on their phone when they buy over the internet in ebay and when they order food – they just need the right product.”

Localisation, therefore, is the key to success in Latin America, Abadi argued. He further reiterated his point by referencing his own experience, observing that – in his view – many international operators have attempted to implement a European, British or American approach to the region.

“What I have discovered in this path is that our administration has had a lot of passion in order to understand that you need to give it a certain amount of time to mature and create a team,” he asserted.

“More companies look for quick wins, but they have a quick lose. At the end of the day you have to adapt yourself to the countries in which you operate to get an understanding that an American style will not work in Nairobi and a European or British style will not work in Guatemala City.”

Lastly, offering insight into Tenlot’s plans for 2020, the CEO predicted strong performances for the country in both Latin America and Africa, its two main focal points of operation.

“There are so many operators looking for new providers, and as a company we operate with our own platform and we are going to open the door to third parties, and I’m sure it will be very successful,” he explained 

“We are going to bring them not only new technology but also new practices, advice, matrixes and accumulated experience in very challenging jurisdictions.”