Sports betting has been legal in Brazil since 2018, but as there was no regulation, the companies operate in a legal limbo. Most international groups that advertise on betting - sponsoring football teams, for example - offer the service through websites abroad.
For this reason, Betsson's Brazilian operation boils down to online betting on horse racing, which is regulated. André Gelfi, CEO of Betsson in Brazil, admits that the business is niche, with a few thousand gamblers and low revenues. He believes that the fantasy game Betsson FC will change the order of magnitude of its local operations.
"Revenues should be multiplied three or four times in a year and a half," estimated the executive, who was a partner at the Brazilian company Suaposta, which was bought by Betsson in 2019, already eyeing regulation.
Betsson FC will be launched this week on a freemium model: it will be possible to play for free, but only paying players will compete for the main prizes. The price to participate will be R$ 10 for each round of the competition. The performance of the athletes selected in the real matches adds points to the user, who will be able to set up virtual teams to participate in six championships, from the A and B series of the Brasileirão to the European Champions League and Premier League.
In all, Betsson is planning to distribute R$ 1 million in prizes in 300 rounds, according to André Gelfi. Betsson FC was “tropicalized” from a structure developed by the Swedish company Scout Gaming.
Market over US$ 20 billion
BCC Research calculated at the end of last year that the global market for fantasy games in the sports segment had a turnover of US$ 20.4 billion in 2020. By 2025, its growth should be 33.4% per year, reaching US$ 86.3 billion.
In the American market, for example, the professional football league has its own game, NFL Fantasy. Another major player is DraftKings, which is worth US$ 27 billion at Nasdaq. In Brazil, the biggest sports fantasy game is Cartola FC, from Grupo Globo (the same one that publishes the newspaper O GLOBO).
In addition to Betsson FC, the company believes that betting regulation will finally come this year, opening space for the development of a local market. The segment was included in the PPI (Investment Partnership Program) and should be the target of concessions. The drawing is being done by BNDES. “Brazil is the ball of the season. All operators in the world are keeping an eye on the Brazilian market awaiting regulation,” says Gelfi, citing a projection that the Brazilian government could raise R$ 1.5 billion (us$ 270m) in the first year if online bets are regulated.
Source: O Globo
