SBC News Voice of the Sports Betting Industry
Success in Brazil is likely to prove tough to achieve for operators despite the regulation of the market, Superbet Brazil CEO Alex Fonseca tells the new issue of SBC Leaders magazine.
Industry eyes have been firmly focused on Brazil since its regulated market launched at the beginning of January and that attention is set to intensify when the SBC Summit Rio conference and trade show takes place next week.
However, there is a strong chance that the level of heightened interest will not be matched by increases in revenue for individual operators, according to Fonseca, who helped Superbet to become the first company to secure a licence in Brazil.
He warns that the move from a grey market to a fully regulated one is likely to result in intense competition, as “all the major names will apply for an operating licence in Brazil, and those who will leave the market are smaller websites”.
“I don’t believe revenue will increase solely because of regulation,” Fonseca continues.
“Maybe it will grow for some operators who start doing better work, with larger investments, which will naturally lead them to gain a bigger market share. With greater security for the capital invested in Brazil, operators will invest more and grow their brands.”
The Brazil focus continues elsewhere in the magazine, as Fellipe Fraga (CBO, EstrelaBet), Fernando Garita (CEO, Betsul), João Studart (CEO, NSX Group), Antonio Forjaz (Country Manager, Sportingbet) and Rafael Marchetti Marcondes (Chief Legal Officer, Rei do Pitaco) share their thoughts on the opening of the market.
Away from Brazil, 888Africa’s CEO Christopher Coyne tells the story of the brand’s successful expansion across Malawi, Angola, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya, Tanzania, Mozambique, and Zambia.
“This year, we acquired our three millionth first time depositor. We’re acquiring in the realm of 200,000 customers a month, every month. That’s huge numbers in Africa,” says Coyne.
“It’s all founded on smart markets selection, a really really strong executive leadership team and then a high quality team of African experts – payments experts for Africa, customer service experts for Africa, social media experts for Africa, products experts for Africa, people who really understand UX/UI, research specialists for Africa. So it’s an African-framed, African-set cooperative who are working on this challenge.”
There are also interviews with Kaizen Gaming’s Chief People Officer Stella Voulgaraki about the challenges of recruiting and retaining the right team and with Betcris CEO JD Duarte about the company’s 40th anniversary. Meanwhile, Soft2Bet’s Nicolas Campano reimagines the loyalty scheme and Greentube’s Michael Bauer details the opportunities in the Brazilian casino market.
Pick up a copy of SBC Leaders issue 35 at SBC Summit Rio 2025, which takes place at Riocentro on 25-27 February, or read the digital edition here.
