SBC News Voice of the Sports Betting Industry
Leadstar Media Director of Operations Jacob Ljunggren chats to SBC News about being an affiliate in Latin America, and how marketing regulations can impact the firm’s operations.
SBC News: What is Leadstar Media’s operational strategy in Latin America and what markets do you operate in that region?
Our operational strategy remains consistent across all the markets we enter. The goal is to provide the best resource for individuals wanting to find a betting site in their country. We create websites from scratch and use our accumulated knowledge in order to be competitive in the organic search market, mainly on Google.
In Latin America, we follow the same approach as in other regions, meaning we prioritise having team members that understand the local sports betting culture. We believe that this understanding of the market in combination with our overall strategy is the key to creating a successful website.
Currently we offer our service to players in Brazil, Peru, Colombia, Mexico, Chile and Argentina.
SBC News: Across Latin America, regulators and lawmakers are imposing more stringent advertising rules mirroring other global markets. How much does this limit your operations?
I am of the opinion that strong regulation is good, but wrong regulation is bad. Too often, strong and wrong have been synonymous. In several other markets we operate in, I have seen that too much focus on protecting the players has backfired and led to a growing black market.
But it is a difficult question. It is hard to regulate smartly with the technology we have today. The Internet is fast, regulation is slow. Anyway, it might be a topic better suited for another time.
For us, advertising rules can have an impact. But they should not impact us directly as we have a big focus on organic search traffic, mainly via Google.
However, we do help people find betting sites, and if there are limitations on advertisement of for example welcome bonuses, it takes away a big aspect of what we help users with. The consequence is that the quality of our service would be limited.
This is one type of regulation that could lead to a growing black market, as the entities operating outside of the system would not comply with such restrictions. Players might not know there is a difference between regulated and unregulated operators and end up in a place the authorities did not intend.
SBC News: How does Leadstar market to new players in an environment that has heavier regulation?
We generally don’t change any fundamentals in a market that has heavier regulation. We still focus on acquisition from Google and adapt to any market restrictions that regulators decide.
SBC News: Regulated markets of course offer huge opportunities as they open up. What are your plans for Brazil when the market finally opens up there in 2025?
Brazil has already been a huge market for the past few years and, for us, the objective of helping Brazilians to find the top betting site in their market remains. Of course the regulation will bring certain changes to our product as the number of licensed operators is expected to be fairly low, at least to begin with.
And, as in any newly regulated market, it will probably take some time before we have full clarity on what will be allowed/not allowed and that will by extension affect the strategy we set.
But we are very excited, and always believe that change in a market is an opportunity to find new ways of improving our products.
SBC News: Peru has also recently established a regulated online gaming market – do you have any plans to begin marketing to players in Peru?
We are already there with our Spanish-language portal: Miscasasdeapuestas.com/pe!
My feeling is that the Peruvian market is the Latam market that the different stakeholders have been most positive about outside of Brazil. I think it is due to the fact that, in the region, Peru seems to have the best balance of different factors.
They have a large population, football is huge and access to the internet and the use of smartphones is on the rise.
You might say the same for the other regulated markets, Colombia and Argentina. But the difference here is that the Colombian market for sports betting is smaller in terms of interest among the public and Argentina has the ongoing process with all provinces that makes it more complicated.
SBC News: What processes do you have in place to ensure that you are complying with all marketing regulations and guidelines across Latin America?
We make sure to follow the news to be able to quickly make the necessary changes we have to do in these markets. Since we are mainly focused on organic search traffic, we don’t have too many advertising rules to comply with, as we might have through other acquisition channels.
We are also working closely with our partners, the operators. The close communication makes us fast to implement any changes that they might ask within the regulatory framework.
SBC News: Does the increasing regulations have any impact on your relationship with partners? Do you have to be even more careful about the content that you publish?
It is not our first rodeo! We have seen increasing regulations in several markets and have had to adapt to new requirements. The most important factor is to have a great relationship with the operators, which we have been able to have throughout these changes.
In the first phase of regulation, there will normally be a bit of figuring out what they actually mean practically, and the market needs to self-adjust.
Operators can also have small nuances in their own interpretation of the rules in some markets, meaning that we have to adjust accordingly. But this is usually not a problem, as we are quick to make the necessary changes.
SBC News: Are you broadly in favour of the increasing regulations that are imposed on operators and affiliates when it comes to marketing?
Yes. However, as I mentioned earlier, I am a proponent of strong regulation, not wrong regulation. I think it is dangerous when the regulation creates an incentive for the black market entities due to limitations for those who actually are trying to work within the system. We need to find the sweet spot in protecting the players while still allowing operators and affiliates the tools to make a competitive product.
SBC News: How do you balance the commercial need to acquire players but remain compliant? Is there a specific LatAm strategy for this or is it a global approach?
Of course our commercial success relies on player acquisition, but being compliant and giving players in Latin America the best and most accurate information is our main priority. Player acquisition will be the consequence of offering the best resource.
This is our global approach, and with the experience we have throughout many European markets we are very confident in this strategy.
