GMB - Tell us a little about the creation and history of Recife Mariners...
Roberto Lemos - Recife Mariners was created through a group of friends who are passionate about American Football. In 2006, when the sport was not yet practiced in Brazil, this group of friends gathered to play on the beach and as time went by more teams in other cities in the Northeast emerged, until the teams started to arrange meetings to play between themselves, thus beginning the "professionalization" of the sport.
Since then, the sport has only grown and Mariners is one of the main responsible for the development of the sport in Brazil, being responsible for several initiatives that raised the level of the sport, such as the hiring of American players, partnership with a soccer team, Nautico, attendance records at Aflitos, to be the first club to host a game at the Arena de Pernambuco in 2014, with the national attendance record for the sport, 7.8 thousand fans. All that was built in these 15 years, and allowed us to reach where we are today, being a reference in the sport in the country.
What are the American football championships in Brazil? Have they managed to gain visibility within the betting market?
Currently the main championship is the LIGA BFA, which has 2 divisions: LIGA BFA ELITE (1st division) and LIGA BFA ACCESS (2nd division), being played throughout Brazil and broadcast by ESPN in 2019. Recife Mariners is the only one team that has representatives in both divisions. Being a "new" sport and having gone through several phases, the sport and the BFA league have been proving to be a serious and trustworthy organization, which will make the betting market viable on the national scene.
Is there a pre-existing connection between American football and bookmakers in Brazil?
No, today there is no such connection between American football and bookmakers in Brazil, which will be a great differential for the first company to enter this scenario and dominate the market. Today, Brazil is the 3rd largest consumer of the NFL, one of the biggest sports leagues in the world, however bookmakers have not yet identified this great opportunity.
Where are the NFL consumers in Brazil?
Today consumers are on ESPN, the official broadcaster of the NFL league, with Brazil being one of the biggest consumers of the League in the world. And the playoffs of the Brazilian football league, Liga BFA, is broadcasted on ESPN, in addition to broadcasting the best moments of the round during breaks from NFL games, thus centralizing the market in a single broadcast channel.
How important is it to have a bookmaker sponsoring an American football team in Brazil? Do you believe that this partnership will bring more visibility to the sport?
The betting market is evolving day by day, but there is a problem: the vast majority of companies compete for the same market share, football (soccer), and end up forgetting the other sport modalities. The moment a betting company decides to enter an unexplored market and become a pioneer in the sport, it will dominate the entire market and have an exclusive share for it, without having to fight for a small space in the American football market.
Those who bet on other modalities in Brazil will come out ahead, will dominate the market and will have their message amplified.
Today, most soccer teams that play in the A series of Brasileirão are sponsored by bookmakers. After the regulation of sports betting, do you believe there will be a growth, including mass coverage to other sports like American football?
This is certainly a very important step for the Brazilian sports market, which will bring a lot of investment not only to soccer, but also to other sports, in addition to increasing the reach of the sport in general in the country.
Does the regulation project proposed by SECAP help to encourage investment in Brazilian sport? Regularizing the betting market is the most important step to bring new companies and players into the sports world. With all the uncertainty of volatile legislation and lack of transparency, many investors are afraid to enter the Brazilian market, thus leaving a lot of investment out of the scenario.
With a structured, solid, and transparent legal basis, many investments will come to our country, further evolving our sports market.
How do you see the future of American football in the country?
American football is a very recent sport in Brazil, being played professionally for about 8 years, and since then the sport has been bringing crowds to stadiums and managing to have great relevance in the Brazilian sporting scene. Today, the costs for practicing the sport are high and investments are low, which hinders the evolution of the sport in the country. However, it is already well consolidated and just waiting for the entry of a great player who really wants to invest in the sport and reap all the results of a work that has been carried out for over 15 years with only love and passion for the sport.
Source: Exclusive GMB
