In January, companies accumulated 4.71 million engagements. In February of the previous year, this number was 5.52 million. This performance highlights the need to adapt content strategies to maintain audience engagement.
"The first months following the regulation of the iGaming market in Brazil have also shown an impact on digital performance, with more contained results compared to the previous year. This was expected, given the new restrictions and a shift in operator communication away from promotions," says Camila Cunha, iGaming Director at Samba Digital.
"February, which includes an important national festive date—Carnival—showed an increase in one key metric: the number of followers. This suggests a recovery compared to January. From March onward, with the return of major competitions such as the Brasileirão, we will gain better visibility into the new digital performance standard for operators," the executive highlights, expressing optimism for growth in the coming months.
Despite the overall decline, Blaze retained its leadership in February by leveraging the media security of Neymar Jr. The company recorded 859,000 interactions—a sharp drop from over 2 million in January—but still remained ahead. MC Games climbed from fourth to second place with 673,000 interactions.
The most engaging post of the month came from MC Games, which went viral by showcasing a controversial play involving Igor Serrote during a South American U-20 match. The content tapped into the historic rivalry between Brazil and Argentina, generating a wave of engagement fueled by the post's controversial nature.
Encouraging growth in followers
After two consecutive months of decline in follower growth, February saw a slight 53.9% increase compared to January. A total of 331,000 new followers were gained across company profiles, with Betão leading the charge, accounting for 34.13% (113,000 new followers).
Sportingbet, which saw strong growth in January after announcing its sponsorship of Palmeiras, dropped from second to fourth place with 19,000 new followers in February—down from 45,000 in January.
Betnacional, which heavily invests in media campaigns featuring Vini Jr. and Galvão Bueno, returned to the top 5. The brand sponsored the Rio Open ATP 500 tournament, a high-visibility event, and gained 24,000 new followers, closing the month in third place.
Source: Samba Digital
