iGaming Daily

Oh my god, we're back again, brother sisters,
everybody sing, or better, listen to this new

episode of iGamingDaily, I'm your host for today
Fernando Nott, senior business journalist for

SBC Noticias, and today I will be your guide
through this split episode on the latest news

from Argentina and Brazil. To cover this first
bit, let me just say that, like Britney, she's

back stronger than yesterday, and now... It
is nothing but the Noticias way with Lucia

Gando, SVC Noticias Editor and better known
as The Boss. How are you, Lu? Hello, Fer. I'm

happy to join the podcast again. Yeah, it's
been a while since you were last on the iGaming

Daily podcast, but now we're finally back, like
I said, to discuss Argentina, but before the

end of the episode, we will also cover the latest
on Brazil with the Noticias Brazil team, but

now. Let's thank OptiMove, the number one CRM
marketing solution for the iGaming market and

sponsor of iGaming Daily. As a special offer,
OptiMove are offering new clients a free first

month when they buy OptiMove. For more information
and claim the free month, go to OptiMove.com

slash SBC, but we will also leave the links
down in the podcast episode description so

you can find them more easily. And now to what...
let's discuss what... We are here for the iGaming

and sports betting industry has certainly been
alive in most of Argentina for a few years

now. But some major changes could be up ahead
as a very, very restrictive proposal moves

forward in Congress, right, Lu? Yes. It was
very dramatic move for the industry. Authorities

of Argentina are trying advertising strategies
completely. So we know that Argentina doesn't

have a gaming regulation that is applied nationwide.
So each market has its own rules, though they

are very similar in general, following also
the examples of previously regulated markets

such as Spain and Colombia. And this point is
important. As we know that in Spain, they experienced

an advertising ban in general during the COVID
pandemic. So it's kind of similar what would

happen in Argentina if this bill is approved.
So in the past two years, at least several

bills were presented to regulate some aspects
of the industry at national level. Especially

the goal is to, is in controlling the advertising
strategies that became very popular among celebrities,

athletes, influencers, and other public figures.
We know that, especially during matches and

on social media, we have a lot of advertising
for betting sites. So we're joined committee

of five different committees of the House of
Representatives. has passed the bill with 90

votes out of 148, which could potentially ban
advertising in sports, cultural events, media,

internet and social media. Once approved, it
would also ban welcome bonuses, welfare debit

cards and lines of credits to found accounts
in gaming platforms. So the complete bill mixes

different initiatives that were already presented
by legislators from various political parties

aiming at reducing the marketing strategies
for the industry in the regulated markets of

the country and it would be applied at national
level. So legislators are currently pushing

hard for these regulations to be considered.
As there's a general debate we've been mentioning

in the past episodes and in SPC Noticias as
well, regarding underage Internet users participating

in online gaming and sports betting platforms.
So Argentinian authorities are now warning

about a gambling outbreak among the residents
with a special focus on teenagers that are

looking for easy ways to earn money, as they
say. So with this initiative, all kinds of

marketing strategies, advertising in all media
platforms, and sponsorships in the sports sector

would be completely prohibited. As I said, as
I mentioned earlier, we already experienced

this ban in Spain from 2020. until 2023. It
was later removed by a Supreme Court ruling

for considering that the law was harmful for
business, free competition, and especially

they suggested that it was benefiting the illegal
market as operators without licenses were able

to offer further bonuses and promote their platforms
with no real consequences while licensed operators

were facing. great limitation to develop their
business. So let's see what happens in Argentina

next with these previous experiences. Yeah,
it's seriously restrictive for the iGaming

industry and the sports betting industry in
general because like you said, Lou, it would

ban all advertising for the segment, like not
only advertising on TV, but also the bill mentions

internet as internet, like the concept. internet.
So it's very broad, right? To talk about internet,

of course, social media, we have seen, and if
you are following or if you are subscribed

to our SBC Noticias newsletter, you have read
by now that there has been multiple influencers

cited by the justice to explain why they are
advertising illegal gambling platforms. So

there's certainly something to discuss. regarding
advertising in Argentina, but this bill is

an all out ban. Like you said, like you mentioned,
the Alberto Garzón decree in Spain that was

enforced for a few years and then brought down
by a justice ruling. So it is seriously restrictive

for the industry and its aspirations. Of course,
this scheme of regulation that Argentina has

under its constitution that requires each province
to regulate the gaming industry instead of

being the country to pass a general bill to
rule the whole country and enforce a regulatory

framework nationwide. This scheme is actually
quite unappealing for some operators that decide

to rather go to the illegal segment instead
of going to this. different little markets

that each province offers. So that's why it
is such a delicate situation right now in Argentina.

And this committee that was actually, like you
said, five committee group of committees had

these two different, they actually... issued
two different what's called dictamen, which

is like a suggestion, let's say for the general
floor to discuss in the Chamber of Deputies,

which is the one that got 90 votes out of the
148 deputies. That's the majority dictamen,

the majority suggestion, which calls for this
all-out ban. And then there's the other, the

minority voted by the lesser amount is a bit
more specific and not specific advance advertising

on media and not, or not, it doesn't go against
internet and everything. But it was, it was

a very heated debate. There were even insults
and lawmakers standing face to face to each

other yelling and cursing at each other. So
it was a very tense situation. But Lou, what

does the bill now need to move forward?

If the bill moves forward, if it's approved
by this committee, the project then can be

debated in a special session of the House of
Representatives for its final approval. To

do so, those responsible will try to get it
on the agenda before November 30th, since if

they fail to do so, its treatment will be postponed
until next year. So we have a first approval

by the committee and then by the full House
of Representatives. Yeah, so since we already

have the approval by the committee, they just
need to put it on the agenda, right? And it's

insane how long the recess for the Congress
in Argentina is. I mean, three months, three

months on vacation. But there's still some chance
for them to discuss it. If the executive branch.

of the government decides to call for an urgency
meeting and they're rushing there to get to

the Congress. But I think it's highly unlikely
they do that because the decision to have this

bill go through five committees to have 148
lawmakers discuss and get together and agree

on a suggestion for the chamber. the decision
by the government to require them to go through

five committees actually speaks for itself on
the non-willingness of the government to have

this bill make progress even though the five
committees actually managed to discuss it and

managed to actually get it ready for the

It is unlikely it will eventually get discussed
this year, so maybe we'll have to wait until

March to see whether this makes any progress.
But Argentina has also been on the front page

of every world sports media after a streamer
lined up and play a professional top flight

football match, Lu. Oh my God, that was a controversy
here. I think in all that time. So we know

that the popular Argentinian streamer Spring.
was included in the professional team Deportivo

Riestra. The notification of his participation
was published a few months ago, but nobody

really expected him to actually play. So earlier
this month, when the game took place between

Riestra and Veles, the streamer was actually
lined up as a starter for the match against...

Sorry, as a starter for the match during...
week 22 of the Argentinian league. He was only

on the pitch for one minute after the game started
and he got immediately subbed. And this generated

another controversy as the betting platforms
reported a high amount of engagement related

to Sprint's presence in the match. So later
that day, high profile athletes questioned

the decision of the club of allowing the streamer
part of a professional match, considering also

that this was a first division league game.
The Asociación del Fútbol Argentino, AFA, released

later a statement where they assured they are
investigating the decision. So not only the

football authorities were criticized by this,
but also the sport betting operators for allowing

bets related to the streamer, like how many
minutes he would last in the field, what action

would he take, and other stuff. Right now there's
an ongoing investigation on whether there's

any fraudulent activity related to the betting
on the whole situation. So that's the situation

so far. Okay, thanks, Lou. Now, after this break,
we will go with the SBC Noticias Brazil team

to discuss the news in Brazil, of course. And
if you want to keep up to date with the rest

of Latin America and of course Brazil as well
in Spanish, please subscribe to the SBCNoticias.com

newsletter to subscribe, of course, to the newsletter.
We'll be right back. The sunshine and the hot

sun meets the sea on the beaches of Rio, where
we will meet with the gaming industry next

February 25th to the 27th for the great SBC
Summit Rio, but now iGamingDaily is back with

those that know the most about the local market,
and I am talking of course about the SBC Noticias

Brasil team that is now here with us today,
business journalist Elisa Marcanchi, how are

you today? I'm great actually, thank you, how
are you Fer? I'm very good, and of course business

journalist Ana Maria Menezes, how are you Aninha?
Hi Fede, very excited to be here in this very

hot day in Brazil. Yeah, yeah, probably the
guys in the Northern Hemisphere are envying

us for being hot in the South, but we're envying
them for being cold up North. But we are, of

course, back in Brazil because as we mentioned
in the previous episode we were in, the Supreme

Court has backed Minister Luis Fux's decision
to ban all welfare money like Bolsa Familia

from any iGaming activities, Eli. Exactly. Last
week, FOX ordered the immediate application

of regulatory measures regarding advertising,
as previously established in Ordinance No.

1231, published this year by the SBA, which
prohibits the participation of minors in betting

advertisements and the use of elements that
appeal to children and adolescents, and of

course the use of resources from charitable
programs in the Brazilian betting market. The

goal is to protect more vulnerable groups such
as minors and people who really need this government

resource. All the court ministers decide to
maintain the Fox decision. So the Supreme Federal

Court support the minister's decision and ordered
the immediate adoption of these protective

measures. It was an unanimous decision, right?
The whole court, the whole STF backed. Minister

Fox's decision, so that's of course going to
be enforced, but that is not the only restriction

the segment will have in Brazil because promotion
is said to be limited as well, right Ana? So

any nationwide advertising related to rewards
for advances, upfront offers, bonuses or pre-betting

advantages, even if labeled as promotions, you
know, so such as marketing or advertisements

are prohibited. So on top of that, the ruling
also prohibits any advertisement for fixed-odds

online betting, targeting children and teenagers
such as Elisa already said, and companies have

10 days to submit a transparency report detailing
all the steps they've taken to comply with

the bans. And if the rules are ignored, there's
a daily fine of 50,000 reais. So I actually

think the conversion would be $10,000 right
now, a bit less actually. And the ruling applies

to all active companies listed in the approved
registry published by the Ministry of Finance,

Prices and Betting Secretariat, we call it SPA.
So it's also worth mentioning that welcome

bonuses are already banned under SPA, ordinance
number 615, which outlines the general rules

for online sports betting operators managing
financial transactions. So the difference that

this ruling was effective starting from January
the 1st. and when the regulation takes place

actually, but they rushed to make it officially
practically a month before as it was covered

by our editor, Ricardo Cis. So yeah, that's
actually a big step in anticipating a rule

that was already meant to be effective from
January on.

pretty much doing the same path or going down
the same path. Yeah. Even though Brazil is

actually enforcing a nationwide regulation because
it does not have the same restrictions that

Argentina has under its constitution. They do
have like the same topics of discussion. They

decide like, okay, what's up with the welfare
money? Now Brazil is going ahead and banning

welfare money. And so is this. bill we were
discussing with Lou on the first half of the

episode, lawmakers are banning that in Argentina
as well. And then they're advertising. Now

they are going after advertising in Brazil even
before the... I think actually it's quite smart

to lay out the rules ahead of the regulation
because if your regulation is already enforced,

like it was in Argentina or like it is in Argentina,
and then you change the rules. in regards with

advertising, like they do, that might not be
so appealing for the operators that are there,

that are licensed and contributing to the state
coffers. So it's actually quite smart or quite

the right way to do, I think, to go in Brazil.
But then there's also the restriction that

can be harmful for the company's expectations
and goals for the market. So I think it's...

It's going to be a hashtag Brazil when I see
there and see how this affects the operations

for the iGaming and sports betting companies.
But now let's go back to the STF, to the Supreme

Court, because one of its members is also pushing
a major restriction that could certainly be

a game changer in regards with individual sports.
Yes, Flavio Dino argued that sports betting

involving only one athlete should be banned
to prevent players from making... or cards

against their own team. So Dino stated that
there can be no bets in which the event that

results in winnings depends on the will of one
person, a single person, because it increases

the chances of manipulation. Although he has
the support of the senator, George Kajuru,

the president of IBJR, André banning bets on
the secondary market will only open space for

the illegal market to operate. Yeah, I think
it's very interesting. Yeah, it's very interesting

to see them going after individual sports, or
individual bets on an individual athlete because

you may say, okay, that may be addressed to...
team sports and not betting on one individual

football player or one individual basketball
player and so on and so forth. But if you go

straight to individual athletes, you are leaving
out the market boxing, you're leaving out tennis.

It is actually a very unique approach, I think.
I'm not sure there's any other market in the

world that has a restriction like this, but
if they have... the backing of lawmakers and

even the president, Lula da Silva, I think it's
a very interesting thing to... and when I say

interesting, I don't mean like it's good, it's
just interesting as in we've never seen that

before and we'll have to hashtag wait and see
to see what happens in Brazil, but if you want

to stay tuned to all that happens in Brazil
you of course need... to go right now and subscribe

to the newsletter of SBC Noticias Brazil, which
is sbnoticias.com slash br as in Brazil, of

course, and subscribe to the newsletter because
you will be up to date with all the news in

the country with Ana Maria and Elisa covering
alongside with editor Ricardo that is always

so Ricardo is always up to Date with everything
in Brazil, like everyone subscribe to the newsletter

and girls if there's nothing more to say I think
we can call this one up. Thank you very much,

thank you very much to all our listeners out
there, please stay tuned to the following iGamingDaily

episodes because we will be covering everything
in Latam, in the rest of the world of course

and to all of you thank you for being with us
and goodbye.