GMB - Brazil has been open for business for six weeks at the time of writing. What is your view on how the process has gone? Has it met expectations? What is the word on the ground from your customers and partners?
Arturo Chaltelt - As with previous newly regulated markets – something we’re very used to with more than 70 licences under our belt – there were, prior to Jan 1st, and will be for some time, multiple moving parts. Regulation in a new market is always an evolving beast. While elements of a framework can largely be planned for in advance some aspects can also take the industry by surprise with changes made in a short space of time. In our view there will be further changes this year particularly around bonusing and how companies pay for, manage and offer bonuses, so we’re keeping a watchful eye on this as we have a keen interest in how things develop.
The Brazilian operators that have already gone live have done a good job working towards this newly regulated era. The question now will be which providers can offer exactly what these brands need when it comes to product quality and performance, particularly as the market scales and matures, which it will and quickly with a youthful, well-educated and experienced iGaming consumer audience who demand the best experiences, across all channels, quickly and seamlessly. The pain points for operators there will come when legacy platforms simply can’t manage the volume or deliver what people want.
EveryMatrix carried out some pre-regulation research towards the end of 2024, what did you find when it came to what local players wanted from their betting experience in particular?
We found that Brazil’s sports bettors are well ahead of the curve for a newly regulated online betting and iGaming market.
They are already highly active online, on mobile and consume online entertainment in a more sophisticated way than many other countries with social media and streaming front and centre. Social Media 49% was the most popular discovery channels for online betting in Brazil.
Brazilians love to bet on their domestic competitions, however, the betting world today is more international than ever. Nearly half of players (43%) are influenced to bet by their favourite teams or competitions, with sponsorships and partnerships with popular teams proven to enhance brand loyalty.
The most popular sports betting leagues overall are the local Brazilian Serie A (71% as a first choice), Champions League (48%), Football World Cup (40%) and the Copa America (38%), while NBA basketball (21%) and NFL American football (11%) are among the fastest growing.
During our research we discovered that, despite its rapid growth and significant potential, Brazil exhibits notable gaps between demand and supply within its existing betting and gaming industry.
We found that players want:
-An improvement in platform performance and reliability, focusing on speed and customer support
-Further development of personalised and localised content to meet their preferences
-Enhanced payment systems with more options and better security
-Expanded mobile-specific features and optimised user interfaces for mobile devices
Our OddsMatrix sportsbook platform, for example, covers those areas and more, and if it’s entertainment Brazilian players want then our modular platform, software and data feed services has it in spades.
We cover 100+ sports, offering more than 530,000 sportsbook events in Q3 2024 alone. We provide industry-leading 1000+ pre-match markets?for English Premier League (EPL) matches where the median across tier 1 operators is just 293, and 11 of our sports are available with BetBuilder, including pre-live and live on football, tennis, basketball and more.
What are the next steps and where and how far can it go this year? What does success look like for year one in your opinion?
We will inevitably see changes in partnerships, new players entering the market in full force, while others will be forced to leave altogether because their promises didn’t match the outcome.
We’ve seen this so many times and this is why more than 300 global customers and rising have put their trust in EveryMatrix, either in our modular products that can be used independently, or they’ve decided to turn on the full power of our transformative turnkey technologies that have catapulted so many brands from mid-market positions to leaders in their respective countries.
For us, this first year will be about consolidating our current partnerships in Brazil, meaning not only having the ball rolling where we were already live, but also demonstrating our capabilities for the market. Additionally, we will seek to fill the void, being the trusted partner for those operators seeking high-quality, proven products that outperform expectations in regulated markets, something EveryMatrix is well known for.
Looking at some of the sessions in Rio there are several involving lotteries. As EveryMatrix has a proven track record working with WLA lotteries, what is the state of play in Brazil for lotteries, how do they compare to Europe, are their needs the same, and what are they looking for?
The lottery landscape in Brazil is interesting as some of the state entities have been at the heart of the pre-regulation debate. The panels in Rio will have local experts giving us a view of where they expect to be in terms of development and innovation. The tradition not only in Brazil, but also across all LatAm, is lottery is an entry point for many new players.
EveryMatrix has a strong track record working with some of the largest and most popular state lotteries in Europe, such as Hungary, Norway and most recently Finland. We will use all our experiences to contribute to the Brazilian landscape having partnered with multiple organisations, integrated our platform technologies and seen outstanding results that have transformed their digital strategies and revenues, in turn creating new and enhanced experiences for their players, many of whom may never have engaged with casino content prior to our involvement.
We were also the first iGaming supplier to receive World Lottery Association (WLA) certification in September 2023, highlighting the quality of our products and commitment we have working with lotteries, while simultaneously upholding the highest responsible gambling standards. There is plenty of opportunity in Brazil and we’re confident we can make a big difference to lottery brands there.
What are the player behaviours, expectations and demands versus the reality of casino and sports offerings in Brazil? Has new online regulation met the demands and expectations of players? What is missing and how can EM fill the gap?
Brazilian players are thrill seekers who enjoy immediate rewards such as free spins or high volatility. Once the regulation on bonusing is finalized and fully adopted, there will be several options for players to enjoy their gaming experiences with promotional tools that are in line with those expectations.
Through our different EveryMatrix tools in CasinoEngine, BonusEngine and JackpotEngine we will be able to maximise these options and, together with operators, create unique player experiences.
Currently there is a need for high-quality casino content and content platforms in Brazil. We have a proven track record of delivering exceptional results in regulated markets, helping tier-1 brands to unlock the benefits of unique promotional tools, access a wide variety of content, with proven reliability, robust and scalable technologies, helping to unleash the creativity needed to start differentiating brands in complex and often saturated market.
EveryMatrix can fill that gap with the best-performing engagement tools and largest library of content from the largest number of providers, including its two in-house studios, Armadillo Studios and Fantasma Games.
What have been the biggest learnings since Brazil regulated? What can we expect to come up in the future and what are our plans for the market?
One of the biggest learnings has been in working in local markets and the importance of having someone on the ground who speaks the language, knows the territory, is well connected and who is constantly close to the changing conditions feeding back to the wider group. Local partners also help to be our eyes and ears.
Another learning is how important transferable experience is, why there are no two identical markets in the world, having this memory muscle of working with previous jurisdictions such as Colombia, Peru, United States, UK, to just name a few, helps to better understand and anticipate processes.
This first year will be focused on planting our flag in the ground, having a stable and growing operation with our current partners, as well diagnosing and selecting new partners, and preparing for next year where I feel we will see many new faces join the Brazilian carnival!
Source: Exclusive GMB
