Opening the panel, Magri sparked a discussion about the necessity of the sports industry to become a stronger sector and have transparent practices to sustain the betting market. "The sports industry is rich in detail and together with the sports betting segment promotes a very interesting interaction for the market as a whole," he said.
According to him, today the global volume of sports betting reaches almost 1.7 trillion euros and there is great room for growth in Latin America, still little explored by the activity. "We have Colombia taking important steps because it has regulated the activity, and Brazil will be a watershed when operating," he said.
According to the executive, football is the main segment of betting, but other modalities are growing. “Brazil's top football tournaments are already in the sportsbook ranking and the world is looking at the country's championships. Brazilian Serie A has been one of the tournaments that has received the most bets and is growing, as has the Argentine Championship,” said Magri.
Responsible gambling, he said, also applies to sports betting, “and we are focused on that, as well as the manipulation of results, which is an inherent phenomenon in the gaming industry and even sports disputes. That is why integrity is the key to ensuring transparency in the industry. All actions that promote integrity and seriousness of sporting events are welcome to strengthen the sports betting market and should be pursued for those involved in this important economic segment,” Magri said. "Fraud is a crime and in many parts of the world they are already being punished as such, and I am sure it will come to Brazil to give even more transparency to sports betting, which is about to be regulated."
Magri brought punishment cases, notably that of Ghana referee Joseph Lamptey, who participated in a scam for manipulating World Cup qualifiers (South Africa vs. Senegal) detected by FIFA’s results integrity control tools.
Álvaro Cotta, of Brazil’s National Basketball League, commented that he has been seeking more information about the sports betting mechanism in order to start operations in Brazil, and that his organization is already aware of the needs involving integrity and non-manipulation of results so that the League has the interest of gamblers as a serious entity.
“We know football is the main sport in the country, but basketball has grown and attracted the attention of sponsors, who are keeping an eye on our teams. We are one of the youngest leagues in the world, but we are aware of the need to make the sport increasingly attractive to fans and now to gamblers,” he said. According to him, a partnership was signed with the US NBA, so that the National Basketball League has procedures and methods similar to those of the American entity.
“All production and content generation of Brazilian basketball is done by the League, which strengthens our members and will promote full integration with the sports betting market, which interests us a lot. We have adopted the multiplatform concept to promote our games, currently reaching 70% of them live.” The content management, according to Cotta, has allowed the League revenue to increase, which ensures the strengthening of the entity and its associates. “The market is very big and it will grow a lot with the sports betting companies that start to operate with our championships and content,” he analyzes.
Daniel Cossi, president of the Brazilian Confederation of Electronic Sports, gave his contribution to the panel by presenting the reality of his entity, which has grown considerably in recent years. “I have just returned from a world championship in China with the participation of almost 30 nations, which each led three teams of six athletes, showing the strength of a modern and agile segment still in its maturation phase and with high growth expectations,” he commented.
According to Cossi, “electronic sports has several growing franchises, such as Clash Royale and Dota 2, among others, and Brazil has been increasingly inserted in this sports segment. With this growth, we are seeking to broaden our recognition. We have been making important partnerships, including with Cafu, our ambassador, and with companies and entities that aim to improve the quality of life of some communities around the world,” he said. For him, the next step for the entity is to reach the sports betting market. "We know that we are not as recognized as some sports, such as football, basketball and tennis, but we intend to participate in this new opportunity for the growth of electronic sports in Brazil," he said.
Rafael Favetti, chairman of the Brazilian Athletic Commission of MMA, could not be present, but participated through a video talking about the importance of the regulation of sports betting and stressed that integrity is a factor of much attention in the entity. “We have a commitment to bettors, as we have to our sportsmen and referees. We showed them that everything must be strict to ensure integrity of results and make MMA increasingly respected. We want the spectator to understand even how the referee judges a match. We do this with the attention of those who assist us, and the same attention will be given to the sports betting market so that we have the confidence to attract more and more players when the sports betting operation begins.”
Source: GMB
