Johnny Ortiz,
founder and president of Zitro, a leading global video bingo company with
operations in 19 countries, spoke exclusively to GMB, making a very interesting
analysis of the future gaming market in Brazil.
A pioneer in the country's bingo industry from the late 1990s to the end of the
activity in 2007, Ortiz expects a serious law to win the trust of Zitro and
other major global companies.
"Zitro, like the vast majority of the world's leading players, has very
strict compliance and licenses in all the markets where they operate and so
they will not venture into Brazil if the legislation is not clear enough and
quite serious." According to him, If the rules were well placed, Zitro
will revolutionize the market.
GMB - Johnny, as a pioneer in the bingo industry in Brazil and responsible
for changing concepts for the activity, what assessment do you make of the past
that you have experienced and the future that will surely bring the most
innovative entrepreneur in the sector back to the country?
Johnny Ortiz - When the Zico Law was passed in Brazil, there was
a great opportunity for everyone, but especially for the sports entities, to
develop. It was with the opening of the bingos and with their sponsorship that
we made a leap in the development of various sports modalities, which allowed
the country to improve its performance in the Olympic, Pan-American, World Cups
and even in other sports that did not even have spaces for their athletes to
train. The bingo houses started to offer a healthy leisure, especially for the
elderly, who had no option of entertainment, and took glamor and security to
all the places where they settled. Old sheds have turned into luxurious bingos
and attracted complementary activities such as upscale shopping, restaurants,
etc. This has greatly moved the local economy. I am sure that the maturation of
an adequate law will allow the generation of hundreds of thousands of direct
and indirect jobs, taxes and fees to improve Brazil's economy and joy for
clients, especially the elderly, who will have a happy, safe way and cheap fun.
GMB - What was it like to present bingo
to the population? How to win customers for such an unfamiliar activity?
Johnny Ortiz - It was not too
difficult. Entrepreneurs had the perception that to attract regulars, they
needed to offer comfort, security, beauty, good food. That is, an excellent
service for an audience eager for novelties. And it was not necessary to
"teach" what bingo was for the population. It is a millenarian game,
present in family gatherings, festivals in schools all over Brazil and also in
thousands of churches. Even it sounds crazy, who teached people to play bingo
was the church itself, in its quermesses, when it played games to raise funds
for its social activities. Just one of the segments that ended up against the
activity regulated by the Zico Law.
GMB - The big panels and extractors, which ended up gaining the nickname of
pipoqueiras, became part of the daily lives of thousands of people. Was that
enough?
Johnny Ortiz- Of course
not. Every customer wants new things and that's why I put a new concept at the
time of Bingo 23 (in the city of São Paulo, which gave birth to Bingo
Imperatriz, years later). We installed 150 Bing Datas (the well-known computers
where players could automatically play as many cards as they wanted). To give
you an idea, we were pioneers in this area and until then the best bingos in
the world had a maximum of 12 terminals. Our pioneering spirit ended up being
consecrated by the main bingos of Brazil and we exported the concept to several
countries. Another novelty was the videobingo machines. It was born in Brazil
and I never tire of saying that the "inventor" of this type of bingo
game was the Brazilian government itself, which allowed, guided and organized,
within the old law, this modality.
GMB - That was the end of the activity
and the advances that the sector was conquering and of which you were one of
the protagonists. Was that a chaos or leveraged Zitro's growth on the world
market?
Johnny Ortiz - Of course the end of the activity was a major impact for
society, entrepreneurs and sports organizations. They ended the bingos without
any discussion with society and for no reason. It was only a move to divert
public attention from other problems. But there is no evil that does not come
to good. The closing of the bingos forced me to look for other ways and then
Zitro was born, because I had to leave the country in search of new
opportunities, when I took advantage of all the knowledge acquired in Brazil
and started to offer high technology and the creativity of videobingo to the
market World, putting in many other countries the product invented in Brazil.
GMB - And how is Zitro currently? Is
Brazil in your plans?
Johnny Ortiz - Today Zitro is present in 19 countries and moving to be a
global leader in the gaming industry considering that we are already the world
leader in videobingo. Now, with the new products we are developing, I have no
doubt that we will achieve this leadership. And in the case of Brazil we have a
product that will revolutionize the segment once more. I’m talking about the
ABS - Advanced Bingo System-, where bingo entrepreneurs will have a control
system and equipment never seen in the world. To give you a little idea, you
can change the decoration of the bingos daily, if you want, and with the huge
advantage of costing less than half of the current equipment.
GMB: But for that we need a law…
Johnny Ortiz - Of course ... And a serious and clear law. I see many good
points in what has been discussed and two only negative issues. One is the
prejudice of some press vehicles, that without going into the subject, took a
position contrary to the activity. The other point that I consider negative is
the lack of union of the entrepreneurs to demonstrate effectively the society,
the press and the government, the benefits of our industry. Anyway, we are
anxious and confident in the new gaming law in Brazil and I think it would be
fundamental that, as in other countries, the Senate and the House would unite
to discuss a solid project. The law must be very serious so that there is no
margin for some bad businessman to take advantage and that all others take the
blame. Zitro is a 100% compliance company with licenses worldwide, and if the
law is not well done we will not return to Brazil. And other companies, in the
same way and following the same premises of transparency and seriousness, will
not come to the country.
Source: GMB
Author: GILDO MAZZA
