GMB - Last week took place the Online Gaming Summit Brazil, an event focused on sports betting where Sportradar decided to participae. What is your evaluation of the meeting?
Mateo Lenoble - We as Sportradar are very pleased and satisfied with the event. The attendance was very important and the lectures very interesting. We think that what is happening in Brazil is very important. The country took an important stpe legalizing the sports bets market, and willing to regulate the modality in a period of two years is very for the country.
Sportradar is already present in Brazil through partnerships with the football federations of São Paulo, Santa Catarina and CBF itself. How do these partnerships work and what are their goals?
Sportradar has a very large integrity department, we strive hard to protect the sport and so we make a lot of partnerships with federations, as you mentioned, as well as with FIFA and CONMEBOL. If we identify that some match has been affected by fraud, we communicate to these federations so that they can conduct an investigation and thus protect football, that is the most important part of the business.
Which would be the role of Sportradar and how does it intend to work in Brazil after the regulation of sports betting in the country?
Sportradar is not an operator; we are data providers, so we integrate with the operators and do the risk management so they can protect themselves against betting cartels and possible losses. We also partner with software platforms so that together we can offer all our products to the operators. And so we intend to act in the Brazilian market.
And what are the expectations for the company's performance in the Brazilian market?
They are very large. The Brazilian market is a world. A continent within another continent. And we know that it has a very large betting level and is the largest country in South America, so we are very focused on this territory.
What would be the best regulation model for sports betting in Brazil? One that follows the idea of a monopoly or one that opens competition for several licenses to the operators?
This is something that will depend on the regulator. I do not know which would be the best model. I know what was used in Colombia and it works very well. But I'm not sure what the regulator will follow and don’t really know which model would work best in Brazil.
How does Sportradar evaluate the moment of transition of government in Brazil and what are the expectations for Jair Bolsonaro's mandate in relation to the legalization process of the gaming sector?
I think the new president Jair Bolsonaro will follow the current alignment of the legalization and regulation of sports betting. As we heard in the sessions during OGS, gaming in Brazil already exists. That’s why it has to be regulated, so that the Brazilian government can levy taxes on it, regulate and protect the sport, and help people with ludopthy problems. And regulating the activity will allow to do it all. I believe it is a path that the new government will follow.
Source: Exclusivo GMB
