VIE 29 DE MARZO DE 2024 - 03:52hs.
A reality in the sports market

Betting sites increase presence in football in Brazil and South America

Brazil's football lives in a peculiar setting. Bodog announced sponsorship of the Brazil Cup. The Copa São Paulo Junior Football, this January, has the contribution of Bet90. Bumbet has a contribution to the South American Cup and has also partnered with the Brazilian Cup itself. One of the most popular teams, Corinthians, has already signed an agreement with WinnerPlay. The segment has gained more and more official space.

Brazil lives a peculiar scenario in its football market in relation with sponsorships. There is a specific segment that, in theory, is banned in the country but has gained more and more official space. Betting sites are already a reality in the sports market.

The latest news happened in the Brazil Cup. Bodog announced sponsorship of the competition, in the second tier of contributions of the tournament. After a naming deal with Continental, the betting site will be next to Elo.

In its segment, Bodog is not alone. The São Paulo Junior Football Cup, which takes place this January, is supported by Bet90. Bumbet has a contribution to the South American Cup, and the company has also partnered with the Brazilian Cup itself. There has already been agreement with the club, case of Corinthians with WinnerPlay. And even sporting events such as the ESPN Silver Ball, had a naming deal with Sportingbet in the last two years.

The betting companies live in a limbo in Brazil. By law, such games are prohibited in the country, but the reference is to physical locations, such as the traditional casinos. For websites, there is no specific regulation, although there are bills in circulation in Brasilia to legalize the segment.

"It is necessary to emphasize that the bets already exists in Brazil even without a law; they already move US$ 4 billion in the country. And today there are sites hosted in Brazil, with no need of that story that they have to be abroad," commented the professor of the Getúlio Vargas Foundation and specialist in the segment, Pedro Trengrouse.

The only challenge for companies in Brazil is in Conar, which can veto advertising of an illegal activity. But the measure is easily dribbled by companies: they sell themselves as a "guess site," without directly citing the possibility of making real bets. When entering the advertised page, reaching the main goal is usually quite simple.

In the Copa São Paulo de Futebol Júnior, for example, Bet90 uses the bet90.tv brand, a sports news page. But the company's business is in bets that happen at another address, bet90.com.

The lack of control in the segment, however, represents a problem to the sport. "Without regulation, there is no monitoring. And, without monitoring, there is a great risk of manipulating results. Brazil was already a victim of this in 2005 and little has changed since then,” added Trengrouse.

Source: GMB / maquinadoesporte.uol.br