COMMENT SPORTS BETTING BRAZIL - APOSTA GANHA
Prior to joining Aposta Ganha as VP for Global Markets, Hugo Baungartner spent 26 years with RCT Gaming where he held several senior roles including Chief Operating Officer, Director of Operations and International Business Development Manager. Hugo was also previously an executive at Yolo Group, COO at Prohards and worked on contract with brands such as Kalamba Games, Onetouch Games and Salsa Technology.
Hugo Baungartner VP for Global Markets Aposta Ganha
Cutting a long story short, the 35th President of Brazil, Luiz Inácio da Silva, or Lula for short, shut down a prosperous Brazilian gambling industry just under 20 years ago. Near enough overnight, Brazil instantly became a humongous grey market. 'Public lotteries' remained legal. Te now- underground gambling industry was promised things will change for many years, but nothing did - until five years ago.
In 2018, the Michel Temer administration issued an executive order permitting sports betting as a new form of lottery with regulation described as 'pending'. For the last five years, operators have been airing advertisements and sponsoring football teams without proper checks and balances.
In recent months things have weirdly come full circle with Lula, after a 13-year hiatus, once again assuming office as the 39th President of Brazil. In July he issued a provisional decree regulating sports betting platforms.
Hugo, himself a Brazilian who began his career in the gaming industry as a technician installing machine equipment in the bingo halls of his native country, describes the provisional degree as 'momentous'.
"After so many years, I can once again see a future for the Brazilian betting industry. Since 2018 we have been waiting for this regulation. At Aposta Ganha we are happy to see his provisional measure signed, but some adjustments need to be made. Te tax is not perfect but that's fine as, after all, it's only the first step.
"In just one week since the measure was signed by Lula, 239 amendments have been presented. 239! Tese include calls for more tax, others demanding less tax, player protection measures. All kinds of stuff - some good, some bad and others just crazy to be frank about it.
"Tey are trying to impose similar taxation to England. At first tax was to be 15 per cent of GGR, then it went up to 16 per cent and, by the time it was signed, was at 18 per cent. What's not being considered here is all the many other hefty taxes Brazilian businesses already must pay. Depending on where your business
is located, there are already taxes in place of 32-33 per cent, plus a 30 per cent income tax. Tis provisional measure, if enacted in its current form, would add 18 per cent on top.
"Tese measures also mean the grey market will remain as casino betting isn't included in the measure. I think Brazil is going to be a 'real reality' in two years. Te regulation of sports betting will be complete, and many suspect online casinos will be too by that point. If the government is anticipating 12 billion reais those numbers aren't coming from sports betting alone. Put it this way - if current operators have their revenues split 55/45, 60/40 or 70/30 between sports betting and casino, casino is the bigger of the two.
"Te GGR tax ought to be looked at and casino betting needs to be included. We are now waiting on a schedule to be announced with politicians returning to work after their vacation. I don't see a licence being issued until next year at the earliest."
With regulation comes assurance over who is marketing their betting wares. Currently, operators can advertise across any channel no holds barred, excluding social media which is strictly prohibited. Once regulated, licence holders will be the only ones who can advertise.
At the start of May, Aposta Ganha became the new lead sponsor of Figueirense, complementing existing club deals with Corinthians and Flamengo. Unlike England where a ban on front of shirt betting sponsorships is a hinderance to operators and Premier League clubs, these linkups are critical to the financial infrastructure of Brazilian football and raising brand awareness with operators' target demographic.
"I've heard talk of a potential ban on gambling sponsorships, but I just don't see this happening. Te government understands how important betting partnerships are for Brazilian clubs and leagues. In many ways they are dependent on these sponsorships. From an operator point of view, these deals give us brand awareness which is a must to succeed in the market. As and when we receive a licence, we will look to expand the number of sponsorships we already have."
"I've heard talk of a potential ban on gambling sponsorships, but I just don't see this happening. The government understands how important betting partnerships are for
Brazilian clubs and leagues. In many ways they are dependent on these sponsorships. From an
operator point of view, these deals give us brand awareness which is a must to succeed in the market. As and when we
receive a licence, we will look to expand the number of sponsorships we already have."
Across Latin America there are markets with robust regulations already in place such as Peru, Colombia, Argentina, Uruguay. As well as regulation, another point of difference from Brazil is that these countries also have a significant land-based heritage. As such, Hugo doubts that Brazil will have the opportunity to become a hub for innovation in the sports betting arena, at least in the short term.
"For the foreseeable future it will be a case of catching up. Tere may be some new products and ideas that originate from a newly regulated Brazil market, but I doubt there will be any 'innovation' - in the true sense of the word - anytime soon."
As VP for Global Markets, Hugo's remit at Brazilian online sports wagering and casino operator, Aposta Ganha, is to support its efforts expanding into new territories, with Mexico at the front of the queue.
"Having firmly established itself in Brazil, one of my immediate goals is to launch operations in Mexico. We have an all-important licence meaning we can sign agreements with TV companies, sports clubs, and social media platforms to get our brand out there. From a product perspective we will need to adapt as baseball and American football are huge there. In Brazil, football betting is by far the biggest with basketball and to a lesser extent tennis being the next biggest betting markets.
"I have two other expansion projects on the go in the Latin America market, but I can't yet share information on these. All I can say for the time being is that we are hoping to go live in one of those markets later this year and aims to be live in both early 2024."
WIRE / PULSE / INSIGHT / REPORTS P79
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112 |
Page 113 |
Page 114 |
Page 115 |
Page 116 |
Page 117 |
Page 118 |
Page 119 |
Page 120 |
Page 121 |
Page 122 |
Page 123 |
Page 124 |
Page 125 |
Page 126 |
Page 127 |
Page 128 |
Page 129 |
Page 130 |
Page 131 |
Page 132 |
Page 133 |
Page 134
