The Dia da Sorte prizes are lower and the cheaper bets (R$ 2 -US$0.55- against R$ 3.50 -US$0.95- in Mega Sena games, for example). In its first week, Dia da Sorte has raised more than the traditional Quina. Last week, Quina raised US$1.7 million, while Dia da Sorte collected bets US$1.87 million.
The success of the new lottery in its first contest is also evident in the relationship between the collection and the prize. Quina, which has a collection close to Dia da Sorte, pays US$540,000 in prizes (31% of the collection), while the new lottery pays about US$135,000 in prizes, a ratio of 7.1% collection.
The format of the new lottery has also been strategically defined by Caixa to resemble the informal betting style that Brazilians often make. On Dia da Sorte, the player chooses seven numbers out of the 31 available, and one month of the year. This type of bet has a sentimental appeal, leading the bettor to choose important dates for them, commemorative.
According to Caixa, the new mode of play is the lottery with more winning chances, in intermediate prizes, which helps to conquer the bettor.
The Superintendent of Loterias da Caixa, Gilson Braga, said when launching the new lottery that the goal was to "move the imagination" of the Brazilian, when choosing to launch a product with dates. "We have detected that within our lotteries we needed to make a renewal. We always want to bring news to our bettor," he added.
The Brazilians like gaming and the federal government has an interest in partially opening the sector to the private initiative. The attempt to privatize Lotex, a process initiated in September 2017, is underway. But the process is suffering difficulties, with resistance from Caixa Econômica Federal. These political and other difficulties, regarding the term and format of the concession, obliged the government to cut in half the amount expected to receive from the concession, from US$270 million to US$ 147 million, and reducing the term that the private company will have to explore the business, from 25 to 15 years. According to the Federal Government's Advance Partnerships Program, the expectation is to do the auction until July.
The competition with illegal games, such as jogo do bicho, and betting on international sites also hurt the deal. Illegal gambling has a large market in Brazil and takes potential bettors out of legalized options. "Without a serious commitment to disrupt this parallel offer, the high investment that is the purchase of Lotex can be put at serious risk," said an industry representative, on condition of anonymity.
Source: GMB / Gazeta do Povo
