With regulations evolving in Brazil, the SBC Summit was the perfect time to bring together a group of industry experts who truly understand the landscape. Oddsagte CEO Tiago Almeida offered valuable insights into how Portugal’s legal framework can inspire meaningful progress in Brazil.
He emphasized the critical need to educate an audience that has lived under prohibition for years, highlighting the importance of finding the right balance between fun and responsible gaming through adequate exposure and understanding.
Tiago shared the panel with André Gelfi, President of the Brazilian Institute of Responsible Gaming and Managing Partner of Betsson Group in Brazil; Thomas Carvalhaes, iGaming expert; and Ricardo Feijo, Director of Compliance and Legal Affairs at Paybrokers. Filipe Alves Rodriguez, lawyer and founder of IGE - Instituto de Gestão Esportiva, moderated the roundtable “Navigating Business Management in Brazil: Realities Before and After Regulation.”
The event was attended by hundreds of ‘Bets’ – as operators are called in Brazil - from all over the world and from countries that already have regulations in place, such as the United Kingdom, which is seen as a reference in this matter, Spain and Italy, with regulated markets for more than 10 years, and some from Latin America that are also considered examples, such as the United States, Colombia and Argentina.
João Fraga (CEO of Paag) and Bruno Barroso (CEO of Bet Pass) discussed the upcoming regulated gaming market in Brazil, which presents unique challenges in player acquisition, integration and retention. Betting operators must navigate local legal, cultural and technological complexities to attract new users, ensure efficient onboarding and deliver an engaging experience that retains players in the long term.
In the panel “Challenges in Player Acquisition, Integration and Retention in the Upcoming Regulated Brazilian Market,” they discussed effective strategies and products to overcome these barriers, maximize user base growth, reduce costs and ensure a sustainable market presence.
The panel “Regulatory challenges of online gaming in Portugal, Brazil and Spain” was attended by former employees of the Brazilian Ministry of Finance, such as José Francisco Manssur (partner at CSMV Advogados) and Simone Vicentini (Associate Lawyer at CSMV Advogados and Vice-President of the Gaming, Betting and Responsible Gaming Law Commission of the OAB/SP).
Manssur exchanged experiences with Portuguese people about the qualities and obstacles of regulation in Brazil, Portugal and Spain. "The SBC is a global event that brings together the industry in lectures and exhibitions. For the first time, Brazil appears as a regulated industry and, as has happened in previous events, as a protagonist given the size of its consumer market," he says, having served as a special advisor to the Executive Secretariat of the Ministry of Finance in 2023, being one of the main people responsible for leading the development of rules for the fixed-odds betting sector in Brazil.
“Honored to speak at the SBC Summit 2024 in Lisbon, Portugal, as a Brazilian expert, to discuss gambling regulations and business opportunities for the iGaming industry in Brazil,” said attorney Udo Seckelmann (Head of Department of Gambling & Crypto, Bichara & Motta) after his talk “Global Markets Lounge: Brazil.”
After the Brazilian Congress finally regulated sports betting, a number of international operators rushed to enter South America’s largest market. What have the first six months been like for these potential game-changers? The panel “Boom in Brazil: reporting on the former sleeping giant of South America” discussed successes, failures and future strategies to conquer a territory obsessed with football, with unique cultural considerations, featuring Livia Troise (CEO of Betmais), Alexandre Fonseca (CEO of Superbet Brasil), Andreas Bardun (CEO of KTO Group), among others, and moderated by Witoldo Hendrich Jr (Founding Partner, Hendrich Advogados).
For Ricardo Bianco Rosada, founder of the consultancy brmkt.co, and specialist in the gambling, industry, retail and services market, and with experience as CMO at betting sites such as Betboo, Bodog and galera.bet, Brazil is already seen by other countries as a powerhouse in the sector.
"It is perhaps the largest event dedicated to the gaming sector today. Attendance is crucial for professionals in the Brazilian betting market, as it is in the regulatory phase, and this allows for connections with global leaders, valuable insights and networking, accelerating adaptation to the Brazilian regulatory and competitive scenario. It offers a complete immersion in areas such as sports betting, iGaming and payments, risk, in addition to focusing on innovation, collaboration and trends," he points out.
Marcos Sabiá, CEO of galera.bet, has been at the forefront of the regulatory process in the country, and more intensely since the beginning of 2023, when discussions around the topic began in this government. galera.bet is a company of the Playtech group, considered a market leader in the gaming industry. In common, the two companies have among their main guidelines the mission of responsible gaming, the creation of a safe environment for their players and support for sports.
"We are experiencing a complex scenario in Brazil, with a long time lapse since the legalization that occurred in 2018 and the regulation of the sector only now. Despite the negative effects, this delay gave Brazil the opportunity to check the various regulations around the world and, with the lessons learned, have a regulation from January 2025 that will put Brazil at the forefront of this market, doing justice to the size and relevance of the country's betting market, which also shows its strength through the taxes that will be generated, generation of new jobs, with qualified labor and technology for other nations. At this event, it is possible to see how much industry executives see the regulation in Brazil as a watershed for the sector," analyzes Sabiá.
Another Brazilian executive present at the event was Ricardo Magri, an iGaming business development specialist and CEO of EBAC, Empresa Brasileira de Apoio ao Compulsivo, founded in July 2022 by a team of four specialists with skills and abilities in the fields of psychology, communication, organizational management and compliance in the gaming industry, with the sole objective of offering the COMPULSAFE program, a seal that presents solutions for the regulatory process with betting houses.
"Despite taking place in Europe, it is a universal event, and it was gratifying to see so many Brazilian companies winning global awards, which proves the relevance of the Brazilian market. There were three days of many meetings and a very positive reception of the topic, with the imminence of regulation in the country, and with a very important awareness for Responsible Gaming. We were approached by several international players with the intention of partnering with EBAC, recognizing it as a relevant player in this type of activity in Brazil," points out Magri, who was present on behalf of EBAC via Brasilian Lounge.
Source: GMB
