Brazil’s burgeoning regulated market is the focus of both regional and global operators alike, with over 170 brands eligible to operate in Latin America’s most populous and wealthiest country.

On the latest episode of iGaming Daily, Ted Menmuir, SBC’s Content Director, was joined by Betby’s CCO, Chris Nikolopoulos, and SBC Noticias’ Editor, Ricardo Assis, to examine the challenges and opportunities offered by the market.

“Competition is hard [in Brazil] and because of the legal framework in the market, it’s an open invite for a lot of big operators and providers,” said Nikolopoulos.

“If we want to make a difference here we need to understand how the local people think. What are the local events from a sports perspective that we need to cover? What are the local events we need to promote and how can we cooperate with people in Brazil who understand the needs and the requirements [of Brazilian players]?”

Assis agreed that localisation is key to attracting domestic players, however, he also noted that the government has a role to play in transitioning players to the regulated market by making sure changes are communicated with the public

“The government has been really transparent,” he explained. “There’s an official list of legal operators and to make it easier for the users to identify the sites it has been mandated that all licensed betting companies must use the internet domain bet.pr.”

“This creates a clear visual distinction between licensed and illegal operators. We’re still in the early stages so I believe it’s too soon to say whether this is having an effect or not but I think the government is trying to do its best in this way.”

A key target for market visibility for operators around the world is through sports sponsorship. 

This is particularly notable in Brazil where a large majority of football teams in Brazil’s top two tiers of professional football have sports betting companies as their front-of-shirt sponsors. 

For example, Pixbet and Esportes da Sorte are partners of Flamengo and Corinthians respectively, while more recently Vbet marked the launch of Brazil’s market by signing a sponsorship deal with current Brasileiro Série A champions Botafogo.

This saturation, Nikolopoulos explained, is driving up player acquisition costs for operators looking to break through in Brazil. 

“Brand visibility will become tougher and tougher because already the good slots for marketing are taken and the big operators are not going to let them [go],” he outlined.

“Profits are going to shrink a little because, in a regulated market, you have taxes, there are certain things you have to do and so operators will have to be ready to realise that profits will shrink. In a way, if you want to succeed in this market nowadays [you have to] go big or go home because if you reach this certain economy of scale then there is a lot of opportunity.”

Concluding the episode, Nikolopoulos urged the industry to “welcome the regulation” as if the betting market is to be accepted by the public in the country. 

He said: “We need to understand that we need to take care of the end users with responsible gambling and provide this legal framework for operators and providers to work as they should.”