Next December 3-4, at the Pacaembu Stadium in São Paulo, OGS Brazil will bring together operators, product and service providers, regulators and authorities to discuss the current scenario and future regulation of the Online Gameing and Sports Betting sector in Brazil.
GMB - With what expectations do you get to the Online Gaming Summit Brasil, an
unprecedented event for our market? Which services/products of your company would highlight for this new market that opens in the country?
Witoldo Hendrich Jr. - Our expectation is the best. We are regular sponsors of the Brazilian Gaming Congress (BGC) which makes us one of the partners with the most experience in events of this industry in Brazil. For Online IPS, events that can mature the gaming industry here in the country and open the doors to regulation are undoubtedly a priority.
We are an online payment processing company with local payment methods in several countries. Brazil has the potential to be our biggest market!
Last week the Brazilian Congress legalized sports betting. What do you think of this progress? Which are your epectations now?
Our company has been standing out as one of the more active ones in this process of regulation and has been thus recognized with the operators of diverse jurisdictions. The fact that Brazil is practically the last country to regulate the activity gives us a unique opportunity: to avoid mistakes made in other countries and to design the most modern regulation of the world.
How do you think the regulation of the sports betting business should be in the country? Do you expect it to be with multi-licenses?
Free competition is one of the most important constitutional principles of our economy. We expect the government to open the doors to multiple companies, yes.
If you should suggest to the Finance Ministry some model of a country with successful regulation to take as an example, what would it be?
Since we are doing everything from scratch, we should use the best. There is no perfect model, but we should get what's good in each of them, like Malta, UK, Gibraltar and the United States.
Is this kind of knowledge-sharing meeting something that the country needs to prevent the population from being misinformed about the false "dangers" of the gaming sector?
No doubt! In almost all the world, gambling is an important economic activity, which brings tax revenue, creates jobs and is an important element of socialization. We need to teach this to the people.
Online gaming seems today to be the fastest growing modality in the world. Why do you think this is happening?
The online gaming reaches an audience that is not in the casinos. It takes entertainment to people no matter how far away they are from a physical gaming venue. It is not a matter of "stealing" customers from physical casinos, but, in fact, creating a new audience, which until then had no fun in this industry.
In terms of size, what kind of market do you imagine the Brazilian one will be? Which product do you think will be most successful?
I see Brazil among the 5 largest markets in the world. Poker and sports betting will be the locomotive of online gaming. Casinos will be leaders of the face-to-face game due to Brazil's huge tourist potential. We hope for more comprehensive regulation as soon as possible.
How do you think the new government led by Jair Bolsonaro will address the rest of the gaming market in the country?
As a Federal Deputy, I’ve been with him to deal with the subject, as I met with countless other congressmen. At the time, he told me that he saw gaming as something that should be legalized, but he understood that states should have autonomy to decide whether or not they would play in their territory. It may be that, having studied the subject, he changed his mind, but when we talked, that was his position. I truly believe that the economic liberalism that he intends to implement, especially with Guedes in Finance, will be a boost for our industry.
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Source: GMB
