GMB – How important is the recent partnership signed with the Ministry of Finance?
Guilherme Buso - It’s a project we've been building here in Brazil. Since the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Sports took on the role of regulating sports betting, we’ve been ready to collaborate. This cooperation agreement essentially formalizes our partnership with the Ministry of Finance, allowing us to leverage our expertise in monitoring and technology to track betting markets and prevent match-fixing. We’re also contributing with educational expertise and regulation focused on combating match-fixing.
This partnership officially represents work we’ve been building since early this year, and we’re thrilled to support the government and the sports ecosystem in this collective effort to address such a complex issue.
How do you see the current state of the Latin American market, specifically in Brazil, and what are the challenges for Genius?
Each year brings new challenges, and each market has its unique characteristics. In Brazil’s case, there’s still a great deal of anticipation around what will happen on January 1, 2025.
There’s hope that all the groundwork and developments around regulation will come to fruition by that date. Genius is preparing step-by-step, whether legally or commercially, to adapt to each market, but Brazil remains our main focus. We’re eagerly awaiting the regulation, the issuance of initial licenses, and collaborating with partners to ensure smooth operations.
There are reports that Brazil is moving away from the top in the match-fixing ranking. Do you see this as a result of Genius’s work?
Absolutely. Education is one of the key pillars in fighting match-fixing, and it requires a gradual approach. We must raise awareness within the ecosystem—clubs, federations, athletes, coaches, referees—about what match-fixing entails. We’ve seen athletes say, “I only got a yellow card,” not realizing it can still count as manipulation. Educating the ecosystem is essential, and that’s what we’re aiming to do.
We’ve had the chance to work with football clubs like Botafogo and Athlético Paranaense, as well as with the National Basketball Leagues, male and female, and the National Futsal League, providing workshops and engaging them in educational efforts. This preventative work is yielding results, and we’re seeing a positive trend in reducing incidents.
Was 2024 a positive year overall?
Yes, though it’s an ongoing effort. Regulating the market will help provide more visibility into activities within Brazil. All of this is part of the movement that began here on December 26 of last year, and we’re optimistic it will continue to grow.
What are your plans for the upcoming year?
For Brazil and LatAm, Genius aims to expand its client portfolio and increase their access to official data collection services. Particularly in football, we currently hold official data for the leading leagues worldwide and throughout Latin America, including Mexico, Paraguay, Chile, Brazil, and Argentina.
We want clients to benefit from this official content, offering faster, more reliable data delivery and better odds distribution to betting operators. The 2025 outlook is very positive, and we’re focused on growth.
Genius was nominated for four SBC Awards, including Sports Data Live Betting Product and Industry Innovation of the Year. What are your thoughts on this?
It’s a celebration and acknowledgment of the work we’ve been doing for years. Genius is recognized as one of the top innovators in the industry.
Recently launched products like BetVision, which integrates streaming with sports betting, and FANHub, released this year, as well as our innovative digital marketing efforts, have earned us these nominations.
At our core, Genius is all about sports data, connecting sports directly with betting platforms in real-time. Competing for these awards is exciting, and even being recognized in such a competitive industry is a great sign for us.
Source: Exclusive GMB
