Before giving the floor to the panelists, de Fabritiis presented a global analysis of the gaming sector, highlighting a steady growth in activity from 2013 to 2019 of around 15% and the seriousness of the sector, with strict rules of compliance and corporate governance .
According to the moderator, the gaming sector went from 399 billion euros in 2013 to 453 billion last year. “In 2020, despite the drop in total volume to € 356 billion, just under 21% compared to 2019, online gaming grew by almost 10% in the same period, which shows the strength of the segment during the pandemic,” he analyzed, showing that since 2013 the online vertical has grown by more than 100% driven mainly by sports betting and casinos games."
The growth pointed out by him is due, in his evaluation, to a long period of regulation of markets around the world and mainly in Europe. "It is happening across Latin America, and Brazil should be regulated soon. We look forward to it."
De Fabritiis defines that responsible gambling will have a lot of influence on the regulation and competitiveness model for all operators in different countries and markets. He summarizes the gambling sector as the result of a balance between three "players": regulators, operators and customers. "And each ‘player’ must act in a way that defines a comfortable position for the environment to be sustainable, reliable and safe for the player."
When preparing to conduct the panel, he shared an interesting question: "How can responsible betting be introduced into this model and contribute to a sustainable balance?" De Fabritiis pointed out the need to impose limits on deposits, losses, playing time, etc., exclusion processes, education and information for players and protection for them. "All of these mechanisms are part of the overall design of responsible gaming and they must be part of not only the regulations, the political principles, the entire structure of the regulators, but must also be part of the strategy of the operators."
Thus, he gave the floor to Itamar Pereira to discuss the regulation of the gambling sectorin Brazil and how the issue of responsible gambling has been considered. “For regulators, responsible gambling is a key topic, and I see it in all jurisdictions where gambling is approved. And I see that this is also part of the policy of the operators because without a direction on responsible gambling, it is up to them to organize a healthy environment for the player,” he said.
Itamar commented that the best practices adopted in countries with regulated gambling must be followed in order to offer an attentive regulation to the whole set mentioned by de Fabritiis, that is, regulators, operators and customers. "These are things we need to mirror them to try to do something similar in the future, not only in Brazil but throughout Latin America," he explained.
André Gelfi was encouraged to talk about responsible gaming in a comparative way to what happens in Europe and Latin America. “Some Latin countries have already gone through this first period of regulation, such as Colombia and Mexico, and others will enter their regulations, such as Brazil. I believe that we have less records and experience in this market, as we are more immature than Europe. But we will move towards everything that has been learned in Europe, which is a reference. So, we have the opportunity to start something that fits Brazil's local needs for customers, operators and regulators,” commented Gelfi.
Actions against money laundering are solid bases for the gaming business and, according to Itamar, it is a large area of regulation and one of the most important. “I would say that it is a key aspect to convince society of how strong the regulation of the fair operation is and the credibility that the betting operation can have. I believe it is the first concern when people who are watching from outside the industry speak out against gambling. Some people say that gambling is an area of the economy conducive to money laundering. And this is false. It is not what we see around the world. We have a strong structure and prepared for this. We only have lottery operations in Brazil, both Caixa Econômica Federal and some operated in some states, but that goes for the future as well and since we already have a set of rules and actions against money laundering, we won't need to copy constant examples regulations in other countries, as we are prepared to act against this,” he explained.
Gelfi said he is sure that business is more sustainable with measures against money laundering. “In fact, we do a self-regulation and we have already followed some internal procedures to ensure that we are not going to face any situation that may cause problems”, he said.
De Fabritiis asked Gelfi about the client being prepared for the gaming market. The executive of Betsson Group Brasil stated that “we need to differentiate what we have as a market today in Brazil and how the country will look after the implementation of a regulation, with the development of a market for entertainment. I say that the authorities, operators and the local community are looking forward to a successful market in Brazil,” he commented.
Itamar Pereira reinforced the government's position, as regulator, of communicating, together with operators, how involved in responsible gambling everyone should behave. "I believe that we need to create the culture of responsible gaming in a country that is making the first developments like Brazil," he said.
André Gelfi endorsed Itamar's words on the issue of responsible gambling and commented that “as the only fully licensed operator in Brazil, we have already taken this step of having our policies adopted. Our platform already has responsible gaming features. So, if we have a customer with problems, he will have support from the betsson.com.br platform. So, what is expected from the regulation are some adjustments to adapt to Brazilian needs. And these will be developments and improvements that we already face internally in our routines and in the development and release of products,” he explained.
Compared to other markets, in Gelfi's assessment, Brazil will stand out in the area of sports betting. “We have the combination of a country with 210 million inhabitants, with massive digital penetration and a passion for sports. We are talking about a country that follows European sport like nobody else and football is a religion. So, this is a perfect storm, from a positive point of view, and this is basically how we see Brazil.”
Source: Exclusive GMB
