GMB - What did Oddsgate come to show the market this year at ICE London 2024?
Paulo Lopes - Oddsgate has a policy, a marketing stance that unfortunately, for now, it's going to be the last time at ICE in London, it's not going to happen anymore, but it rarely makes its physical presence at the booth. What has been happening is a slightly closer attention to the operations that Oddsgate has inside, mostly in Brazil, where we do more PR than an actual physical presence at the booth. This year, we brought almost twice as many operators as last year, which for us is very satisfactory and it started yesterday, not today, it already started yesterday.
We saw Oddsgate very focused on Latin America, but much more on the Brazilian market. How have they adapted and what goals have they achieved in terms of partnerships, products, and success?
Talking about Brazil and LatAm, it seems like they are two things that are part of the same, but only Brazil is almost an entire LatAm, isn't it? Therefore, our focus is to strongly mark, solidify our presence more and more in Brazil, which we know is already happening. All the operations in the countries around Brazil are already consulting with us to see if they can join us because with the relationship we have with our operators, it's word of mouth. It's not a normal advertisement that we do, it's more of a word of mouth, and they are the main references of our software. That's why we already have some LatAm countries where we are entering, but the focus continues to be Brazil. Brazil has a lot to do, Brazil has a lot to grow, and there we are.
And what are the company's main goals for this market, specifically the Brazilian one?
We are entering there, foreseeing a medium term with regulation, already a regulatory period, and where we are already preparing. So far, everyone is in the same phase, preparing for what will come. But it's also important not to forget the present, and the present is also very important.
It will be the last year of regulation, it's a special year, which we call the "golden year," and the focus we have at the moment is short to medium-term, where we will make our operators grow in a more professionalized way and prepare for the professionalism that regulation will require at all levels. For example, internally within each operation, management, organization, even all the tools that will be necessary for operators to look at the Brazilian market not only for traffic acquisition. There are many other things that regulation will require. So we are in this phase now, training, focusing with those who are with us, training, preparing so that when regulation arrives, everything is fine-tuned.
Have you analyzed the new law standards that come into effect in Brazil?
We are closely monitoring. We have always been following all the diligence that has been happening, we continue to be attentive, and there are still many questions from the operators. We just have to try to support them with what comes from the Brazilian government to try to clarify because it won't be very different from what we see abroad internationally. We already have this experience, and therefore, we will follow the Brazilian reality, following all the difficulties that operators will have so that when regulation arrives, we are prepared.
How does Oddsgate view the market regarding data security?
Fortunately, we have good competition that really respects what an operator's database is, respects their freedom, and respects what is necessary to have that freedom. But we also see the opposite, we see other types of players and agents who don't always do what is ethical, let's say. And here at Oddsgate, we have a stance on that, we have a presence, an agreement, a commitment to our operators, which is: the database is theirs and only theirs. We only exist to help them work the database in an integral way.
Not only the database, but also the entire operation. There are few international companies that operate in both segments, Business to Business and Business to Client. A platform like Oddsgate can never dream of being a B2C because we have the operators who already do it. We cannot, ethically, enter their business because we are the guardians of the database. Therefore, it is important that the operator feels secure, it is important that he feels free to operate with the database, to have his business in full swing and do his best. That's why we have in Brazil many operators, many platforms that are operating with all this integrity.
Source: Exclusive GMB
