"We have a whole strategy to position Caixa in this world of sports betting," said Vieira. "We already have an idea of the valuation (business value) that this company would have in a year, a year and a half," he added.
According to Vieira, even though it involves a partner, it is already certain that the product will carry the Caixa brand. Until the advent of sports betting, Caixa practically dominated the lottery market in the country alone. However, in recent years, this reality has been changing rapidly. According to the global consulting firm Comscore, the online betting sector grew by 281% from 2019 to 2023, with 42.5 million users in Brazil.
Although regulated only last month by the Chamber of Deputies, the online betting market is already a giant in the country. According to estimates, it generated over R$ 100 billion (US$ 20.25bn) in the country in 2023. As a result, it is estimated that the platforms earned R$ 13 billion (US$ 2.63bn) last year in Brazil, 71% more than in 2020.
This means that the bank will enter a sector already populated by dozens of betting platforms. In a recent report, the XP team considered that the regulation of the sector could make it less attractive due to taxation.
Stadiums construction
Vieira also revealed that Caixa signed a confidentiality agreement (NDA) with Flamengo regarding the financing of the club's stadium. Vieira's expectation is to replicate with the Rio de Janeiro club a model being discussed with Corinthians, which has a debt of about R$ 600 million (US$ 121m) with Caixa.
The amount refers to the financing provided by the bank for the construction of the Neo Química Arena, formerly known as Arena Corinthians, in 2014.
Caixa's idea is to transform the clubs' debts into securities to be traded in the market, including by retail investors. Thus, the securities would have the stadium as a kind of collateral. In this way, those who bought the securities would be like investors in the club.
Source: GMB
