Games Magazine Brasil -What assessment do you make of your company's performance and growth in 2023 overall? Did it meet expectations or exceed them?
Eva Berkova - In 2023, our primary focus was market consolidation and expansion, and I'm thrilled to report that we've not only met but surpassed those goals. Now, our sights are set on Betby's trajectory for 2024 and beyond.
Throughout the past year, our discussions focused not only on strengthening our current market footprint, but also on entering new markets. Whilst we have already made our submissions to get the regulatory approval for Ontario, we are eyeing several other potential jurisdictions as well. And this is a strategy that's clearly paid off. This year our overall GGR up to November has soared by nearly 215% when compared to the same period last year, clearly reflecting a strong growth overall.
On the product front, 2023 was incredibly dynamic for us. We've rolled out numerous updates to our product lineup, enhancing Betby.Games – which now comprises of 10 sports – and amplifying our bonuses and freebets engine. Moreover, our proprietary Bet Builder now offers more sports and markets. These improvements led to Betby clinching the prestigious Best Mobile Sportsbook Supplier Award at the recent SiGMA Europe Awards, setting a promising tone for the future.
Concurrently, we continued to invest in our talent pool, resulting in a stronger and more experienced organizational structure across the board. This positioning us favorably to sustain our growth momentum moving ahead.
Will Brazil be high on the agenda for Betby once the markets gets fully regulated?
Brazil stands out as an incredibly attractive market for us and our operator partners eyeing the LatAm region. The reasons for this appeal are quite clear.
While official data remains unavailable, a Grupo Globo study, the largest mass media group in Latin America and among the world's largest conglomerates, sheds light on the local market's potential. Despite the global pandemic disrupting sporting events, the study reveals that in 2020, the sports betting market generated approximately BRL 7 billion (€1.16 billion) in revenue. Notably, from 2018 to 2020, the market expanded from BRL 2 billion to BRL 7 billion.
Betby holds an advantageous position in Brazil, boasting a robust portfolio of partners in Latin America who prioritize the Brazilian market. This positions us optimistically for the launch of the regulated market in Brazil. As operators utilizing Betby's sportsbook solution in LatAm are also keenly focused on Brazil, we foresee their eventual expansion into this regulated market once it's live.
A lot of activity seems to await Betby for the upcoming year on the markets front. But what awaits the company from a product development perspective?
Put plainly, our expansion into new regions significantly influences the direction of our product development.
It's crucial to recognize that the betting preferences in the emerging markets where we operate —like Africa, Latin America, and Asia — are markedly different from those shaping player choices in the established European markets. Consequently, we're tailoring our sportsbook offering to align with the preferences prevalent in different landscapes.
The evolution of our horse racing product serves as a prime example of this adaptation. While European operators often require horse racing to offer a comprehensive content mix to players, bookmakers in Latin America and Africa tend to forgo it. Similarly, products like esports and Betby.Games, which demand significant bandwidth, are necessary for partners in markets such as Europe, CIS, and Asia but not mandatory for those focusing on expansion in Africa.
Essentially, we're diligently navigating this dual challenge: expanding into new markets while evolving our product lineup to suit the specific preferences of each market.
Simultaneously, our goal remains to equip our partners with top-notch tools to boost their revenues and market share while enhancing the betting experience for their players. The unveiling of our proprietary AI-based tools in the upcoming weeks is a definitive step in this direction.
Do you think that the Brazil sports betting market will live up to expectations?
Once again, in the absence of official data, insights from comprehensive studies focusing on local player behaviour become invaluable.
According to Grupo Globo's findings, regarding betting habits, their survey revealed that 18% of respondents place daily bets, 16% bet between 4 to 6 times weekly, 48% wager once to thrice weekly, and 18% do so two to three times monthly or less.
Regarding monthly wagering amounts, the survey showed that 18% wager up to BRL 30 (~€5.60), 17% between BRL 31 (~€5.80) and BRL 50 (~€9.40), 9% between BRL 51 (~€9.50) and BRL 70 (~€13.10), 18% between BRL 71 (~€13.30) and BRL 100 (~€18.75), 17% between BRL 101 (~€18.95) and BRL 200 (~€37.50), 9% between BRL 201 (~€37.70) and BRL 500 (~€93.80), while 10% wager more than BRL 501 (~€94).
In terms of wallet share, 26% bet solely on one site, 33% use two sites, 29% wager across 3 to 5 different sites, with only 12% betting on 6 sites or more.
These statistics strongly suggest that once fully regulated, the Brazilian market holds immense profit potential for operators.
What is your general opinion on the regulation of the sports betting and online gaming market that is on the verge of approval in Congress?
These regulations mark a significant stride toward modernizing Brazil's online gambling landscape.
Yet at the same time the issue with the bill now is that iGaming (slots and casinos) has now been stricken off and only sportsbetting remains as the regulated area. This will lead to the creation of a landscape where iGaming will remain unregulated in Brazil, even though not prohibited, which will leave open the option for offshore operators to provide services, although without having the possibility to integrate the sports betting vertical, since this vertical will be regulated.
This can cause issues since the operators who will get the licenses likely will not be allowed to provide iGaming services in the same structure.
Source: GMB
