Last Friday, iGB Lisboa closed its 2019 edition, with the presence of the world's largest operators and very interesting panels on the universe of sports betting and affiliates. For us, Brazilians, there were two exclusive panels, with experts on our market and who know, in fact, our universe.
So far so good.
However, what made me a little scared, but at the same time enthusiastic, was the lack of knowledge about the true Brazil by the visitors of the iGB Lisboa. Frightened by the fact that many there has Brazil as their next target and yet they are unaware of the Brazilian peculiarities, such as our famous ‘Boleto Bancário’ (Banking Ticket) and the famous physical Betting Houses scattered throughout the interior of the country.
I was excited from the point of view of opportunities for Brazilians who know a lot about the national scene and will have a huge new job market in the coming years. To help these new adventurers with a focus on the New World, I will update our post ‘5 Things about Sports Betting in Brazil.’
Come on!
1 - Regulation
The last time I published the post about ‘5 Things about Sports Betting in Brazil,’ there was not even the possibility of a Law containing an article bringing to legality the gaming sector.
Well, Law No. 13,756 / 18 brought not only to legality in its article 29 et seq., but also delegated the power to regulate fixed-rate betting to the Ministry of Finance, which began work by its Planning Secretariat, Energy and Lottery.
After the publication of a Public Consultation and thousands of replies, the Secretariat issued a very confusing Decree, with articles contrary to the Law and new criminal types, not to mention a redistribution of collected amounts totally different from the legal text.
In the face of this confusion and after the Secretary's call for our Legislative Power not only to revisit Law no. 13.756 / 18, but also other legal acts that directly influence the regulation of betting in Brazil.
Thus, in Opinion already launched here and corroborated by my friend Pedro Trengrouse, it seems that the Regulation will be beyond the previously stipulated date, December 2019.
2 - Parallel Market
It is true that Brazil, even today, is a gray market. It is also true that we can classify it as a light gray market, since there are already a number of operators here exposing their brands aggressively and who will hardly be forced to cease their activities after regulation.
But Brazil has a side that is not so clear. This is one of the points that most amazes future investors in Brazil: the existence of physical points where it is possible to place a bet and receive a receipt of the transaction. Simple as that, almost like buying a loaf at the corner bakery. Sounds like a joke, but it's not.
In fact, in the interior of the country and in the suburbs of major urban centers, such as São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, it is possible to find small shops where it is easy to bet on the Premier League or Brasileirão championship, with real odds and cash.
Will this end with regulation? It should, but I do not believe that the government will be strong enough to oversee and block this type of activity.
It is up to the operators, who must follow the rules of the game, charge the state to implement strict oversight and, with attractive odds, intuitive platforms and a lot of education, convert these customers to legality.
3 - Banks will be your friends
Bank Ticket (Boleto Bancário). No virtual wallet, digital bank or credit card. What the Brazilian really likes is the good and old Bank Ticket.
With the absence of rules for online sports betting in Brazil, many payment integration companies have had to cut a double to make Brazilians' deposits to their accounts at major bookmakers operating in the country.
The Boleto Bancário was already used in several markets in Brazil. Hence its adaptation to pay the deposits in the bookmakers was natural for Brazilians, but a little unrealistic for bookies in terms of Brazil. For new entrants it's still new, if not a surprise.
With this difficulty in making a payment or depositing with Brazilian gambling accounts, the cost to use a payment integration company is not so attractive these days, which should change dramatically when we have the rules published.
Banks, few in Brazil, but with a huge influence in all sectors, are expected to play this game, which will make the rates currently charged by payment integration companies fall by more than half. Let's see, but Banks will play a major role in the near future in our market.
4 - Animal.bet
The ‘Jogo do Bicho’ (animal game) is a cultural thing. Whether in Rio de Janeiro, City of its origin, in Sao Paulo or Bahia, it is something culturally accepted by the Brazilian. During the 1980s, the ‘jogo do bicho’ was the major financier of Rio de Janeiro football, with teams like Botafogo and Bangu being its main showcases.
Bangu even became the Brazilian runner-up in 1985, when Emil Pinheiro, its patron and president, transformed the traditional club in west Rio de Janeiro into a great one. All with money from the ‘jogo do bicho’.
Will it end? No. Will it be legalized? Do not know.
This is another variable that needs to be worked out very well by the new operators who intend to enter Brazil, not only for the continuity of the gaming sector itself, but also for the possibility of their “investors” migrating part of their activities to sports betting, by taking advantage of the capillarity of their business and their huge clientele.
5 - No Casinos or Roulette
Many questions arose at iGB Lisboa about whether to have traditional casino games on sports betting websites after regulation. And the answer to all these questions is no. At least the way the law is right now.
Currently in the Brazilian Legislative Houses there are several discussions about the wide legalization of gambling in the country. However, the only modality, with the exception of those where the Caixa Econômica Federal is monopolistic and turf, which has been legalized but not yet regulated, is the fixed-odds sports betting.
Thus, even for those who already have operations in place in the country, as soon as fixed-odds sports betting is regulated, the websites should undergo some changes and remove from their portfolios the so-called traditional or casino games, such as roulette, craps and so many others.
For those newcomers to the country, if until the publication of the regulation we don’t have an amendment to the law that allows casino games to be included on sports betting sites, keep in mind that Brazil will only have fixed-odds sports betting as the only allowed online game in the country.
I repeat: except for all those products offered by Caixa Econômica Federal and we disregard poker in this context.
Of course, by then everything can change.
- In Rome, be Roman. Better, in Brazil, be Brazilian and not South American.
In addition to these points, one last very important tip: the Brazilian is Brazilian and period!
Don’t want to call the Brazilian South American or Latin American, because here we have our own identity, a language completely different from Argentines, Uruguayans and Colombians. Not to mention that we are more than 220 million people, with almost one cell phone for each inhabitant!!
So when you set up an operation for LATAM, think of Brazil as Brazil and don't want to make a simple comparison with Colombia, Puerto Rico, Peru, and much less Argentina.
Here's the tip.
Source: GMB / Angelo Alberoni – Betzilian.br
