Lycka is optimistic that Colombia is just the first of many Latin American markets for Entain, although the group is committed to only taking business from fully regulated jurisdictions by the end of 2023. That means he’s keeping a close eye on the current moves to regulate the online gambling markets in Brazil, Chile, Peru, and Bolivia.
“These are the four Latin American markets in the process of regulating and potentially becoming fully aligned with Entain’s strategy. And, without a shadow of a doubt, Brazil is the crown jewel. As soon as Brazil has regulated, or has opened its licensing process, Entain will be there with a license application.”
The kind of expertise that will be needed to eventually launch in Brazil will form part of the discussion during the SBC Leaders panel that Lycka will participate in at SBC Summit Latinoamérica. ‘The Importance of Local Partnerships’ will examine the advantages and drawbacks for international brands of working with local operators and experts when entering new markets.
“It’s always very, very important to have a source of local knowledge in any market that we enter,” he said. “I’m not saying that we would have to enter all our new markets together with a partner or, if I may put it differently, we may not be statutorily obliged to enter markets in Latin America with a partner. But we would most certainly consider whether, from both a legal and a commercial perspective, we would potentially be better off entering new markets on our own or with a local partner. It’s something we will approach on a jurisdiction by jurisdiction basis as territories regulate.”
Local knowledge comes in many forms though, and agreements with operators are far from the only type of partnership that Entain will explore once conditions are right for the company to expand its presence in Latin America.
“We work with a broad variety of local partners, ranging from potential sponsorship opportunities to legal experts,” explained Lycka. “We always seek to instruct a top drawer law firm and top drawer regulatory affairs advisors to guide us through any regulatory process and, of course, subsequently through all applicable compliance processes during the lifecycle of any licenses.”
One other area that he would like to see collaboration on is the creation and management of effective responsible gambling provision in the markets that are in the process of establishing regulatory frameworks. “I remain of the view that safer or responsible gambling is critically important to the success of any regulated market,” he says.
“There’s a whole set of best practices and principles countries such as Brazil can take advantage of and draw inspiration from. BNDES, the Brazilian Development Bank, has been looking into instructing a third-party advisor on the future licencing or tender process. I’m sure that whoever is selected will be giving the Brazilian authorities a lot of advice not only on the regulatory framework, but also on safer gambling being supported to the extent required and welcomed by the industry,” concludes Lycka.
Source: SBC News
