iGaming Daily

00:00
Brazil continues to give us a lot to talk about in the iGaming industry, but also in the land-based casino industry. And that's what we will cover today on a new episode of iGaming Daily. Welcome everyone. My name is Fernando Noth, Media Manager for SBC. And today I am joined by Ana Maria Menezes and Elisa Marcante, Business Journalists for SBC Noticias Brazil to cover what's going on in the country in the South American giant.

00:30
At some point it was the sleeping giant. It's not sleeping anymore. It's very much awake. But there's some stuff that may be taking a little bit longer than we were expecting them to. Ana, how are you today? Hi, Fer. Thank you very much for the introduction. It was very good. And yet not a sleeping giant anymore, but definitely taking things low. We always take things low. So we're going to cover a bit more about that. Elisa, do you take things low? How are you today? Hi, Fer.

00:58
I'm good, thank you. And you? Very good, very good. Looking forward to discuss what happened in Brazil. There was a lot of expectation, but we are all just sitting here and looking at each other and saying, hey, what happened? But what happened? We will discuss after thanking OptiMove, the number one CRM marketing solution for the iGaming market and sponsor of iGaming Daily. Thank you very much OptiMove. Like I said,

01:25
introducing what's going on in Brazil. Land-based industry, not only casinos, but also shogo do bicho, a lot of stuff that relates to the land-based casino because Brazil is a very unique case where the iGaming industry was regulated before the land-based segment. Even though eons ago, like in the fifties, maybe there was some gambling allowed, then it was banned.

01:53
And ever since it has been banned until iGaming came into place, the government decided to regulate iGaming and turn Brazil into a very unique case where iGaming was regulated first. But LandBase is on the table or was on the table, but has now been postponed and we are in the same position as in every other week Ana. Yeah. So on July 8th, the Senate president, Davi Alcolumbre, he withdrew the vote on the bill.

02:23
So the bill would legalize casinos, not only casinos, but bingo, Jogo do Bicho, as far as accent was perfect in pronouncing it, and also horse betting. And the decision was due to three reasons. First of all, a low quorum. So there were only 56 out of 81 senators present. besides that, the ones who were not present were requesting to participate in the vote once they returned from official travel. And we have to remind that in...

02:50
eight days, they're going to have a recess. So we have no idea when this is going to come back to the table. The president also mentioned how polemic the bill is as a way of sort of justify postponing it. And they have been doing this for a while now. And during the session, and this is worth mentioning, just to show how against the bill, some of the senators are especially from some very particular parties such as PSDB.

03:18
PT, which is the ruling government party and also União. And just as an example with a quote that was used, they were comparing the gambling industry in general with organized crime, addiction and also social harm. they said and with quotes here with Senator Humberto Costa said he's from the ruling party, Renal PT. He said Jogo do Bicho serves as a front for militias and criminal organizations. So this is a big

03:48
Big quotes, big, just a really big talk and this has to be taken into consideration. The Amazonas Senator as well said that Amazonas doesn't need any casinos there. So it could give space for ambient environment issues and also organized crime. So this is how they're seeing it. And we're just gonna have to hashtag wait and see to check how.

04:16
What are the developments of this case? But we can cover all of that, of course, on SBC Noticias Brasil. Yeah, of course. Everything will be covered and everything that has passed has already been covered by SBC Noticias Brasil. So if you have not subscribed to the newsletter, please go ahead and do it. SBCNoticias.com slash VR. Go to the part that says newsletter. Click on that. Subscribe. can also subscribe to every other SBC media.

04:45
newsletter there so you can keep up to date not only with what happens in Brazil but also what happens everywhere in the world related to the gaming industry and you were saying one of the excuses is okay so show the issue and I am gaming in general is a cover for for organized crime and I reckon that it's a it's a very easy excuse even though

05:14
We don't know if it's right or not, but if it were right and you had an unregulated segment operating, you have no way to control whether the industry is actually a cover for organized crime. So what better way to actually control that, that regulating the segment and actually having some government bodies looking over them

05:43
setting up a watchdog to look over the industry and actually control whether it is where the money is coming from and where the money is going. I mean, that's a very, very interesting excuse. mean, it's not new. It's definitely not new. That's an argument we have been hearing for some time everywhere in the world, but still

06:11
It never ceases to amaze me how they ignore the part that if you regulate an industry, you can actually benefit not only from collecting tax money from it, but also from controlling where the money is coming from, where the money is going, who are participating in this industry and everything else. But there's a strong opposition to this bill.

06:41
Bolsonaro and Lula on the same corner, apparently, because the PT is against the bill. President Lula said that he will sign the bill if it passes eventually, even though he doesn't like it. That's what he said a few weeks ago. But the Bolsonaro family is also against the bill, Elisa. Yeah. So his son, the senator, Flávio Bolsonaro, recently shared a letter

07:09
opposing the legalization of land-based casinos in Brazil. And this letter was issued by the Interim National, I think it is, Council of Evangelical Ministers of Brazil, also known as CIMEB, and expressed concerns about the potential negative effects of gambling. Things like rising personal debt, addiction, and even harm to the local economy.

07:38
This letter was signed by Pastor Silas Malafaia, he's the vice president of CIMEB, along with several other religions leaders. We all know that Brazil has a strong religion opposition to sports betting and gambling. But the thing is, apparently Flávio himself has been seen at casinos abroad. According to a report by Metropolis,

08:07
Earlier this year, he visited the Hard Hawk Hotel and Casino in Miami. Oh, I missed that place. And left with over $200,000 in cash. And it was like, withdraw directly from the hotel's cashier. And also, he was part of an Enver Tour delegation in 2020, if I'm not mistaken.

08:37
Andrater is Brazil's international tourism promotion agency on a visit to the US. And during this trip, he met with the former CEO of Las Vegas Sands, Sheldon Adelson, and the senator Iraj Abreu, also the reporter of the casino bill, was also there. So here in Brazil, he's against the land-based casinos.

09:07
but outside Brazil he goes to casinos, he plays, he puts his money, so that's the thing. Yeah, there's casinos and casinos, right? But moving over to iGaming, the popularity of gaming websites has also been on the rise in Brazil. Like we said, it used to be the sleeping giant, but not anymore, Elisa. Not anymore, yeah, exactly. There's this study by Simular Web.

09:35
The company looked at global traffic across various websites and found that licensed sports book in Brazil, they are actually among the most visit in the country. Second to only to Google. So in January this year, the sports book saw an average of 55 million visits per day. And that number kept growing. By May,

10:05
they hit like 68 million visits. And that is like another source point out that during the football matches, the big ones, the traffic spikes even more. During the Champions League, for example, there was like a game between PSG and Inter Milan, and these websites got like 70 million, more than 70 million access.

10:36
So this study was checking about the visitors here in Brazil, and it shows a big increase from the past months. And also it showed us that those visitors came through direct traffic, nearly to 68 % of all visits. And surprisingly, social media had less impact than expected.

11:06
accounting for only about 8 % of the traffic. But still, we are good here. We are showing that the industry is growing, and this is really nice thing, at least for me. I don't think Flavio agrees, but... No, probably he doesn't. But not everything is perfect for the iGaming industry, as there's been some serious trouble regarding some

11:35
alleged malpractice by an operator. Ana, why don't you very briefly tell us what has happened there? Okay, so SBC Notícias Brasil was approached by a gambler. We're gonna call him Diego. And this whole coverage was done by Ricardo Cis, the editor of SBC Notícias Brasil. So if you want to check the full story, please go to our website. It's a very nice investigative work. So to sum it up,

12:04
This gambler Diego, he turned R $1,000 into nearly $148,000, which would be R $800,000 in under 24 hours on the PIXBED platform on December 2024. And he allegedly requested a full withdrawal and the account closure, but he was repeatedly denied, as he said, due to a daily withdrawal limit of $10,000 imposed by the platform.

12:34
If this is proven right, it would be against the betting law we have in Brazil, which says that players can withdraw the money and there cannot be a limit for that. Daily limit in this way. And then he mentioned that he tried to self exclude himself to avoid further gambling. But then he mentioned that he was told he needed to withdraw the remaining balance, but he could not do it because of the limit of the daily limit of transactions.

13:03
And this became sort of like a snowball, as he mentioned. And during this time, on January, he said that he experienced a sort of like impulsive episode and he plays a very high value bet in a matter of minutes. And he mentioned that he lost around $85,000, which would be almost 500,000 reais. And he claims that no responsive gambling alerts were issued despite the rapid increase of the betting amounts.

13:33
He also was later reportedly diagnosed with ADHD and pathological gambling behavior and he sent a a formal legal notice to PixBad requesting for reimbursement and compensations. However, we still have no answer from PixBad. We still have to again, hashtag wait and see what are the next developments are gonna be. But some experts that we talked to and he can especially of course talk to

14:02
mentioned that similar restrictive practices are very common among platforms dealing with high winning users and also that this behavior could amount to abusive strategies. So it's a pretty big story. It's worth reading. It's worth sharing as well. And yes, it's a big thing here. Yeah. Well, if you want to keep up to date with what's going on with PixFit and our good friend Diego, be sure to subscribe to SBC Noticias Brasil Newsletter.

14:31
And speaking of the image of the industry, we will discuss what's going on in the rest of Latin America right after a very brief commercial break. Thank you very much, Ana and Elisa. people go get some water or everything. Anything you like, you like. That's how you say it. And we'll be right back after this quick break.

14:51
And we are back with iGamingDaily now to discuss the rest of Latin America outside Brazil. And for that, we have now with us editor of SBC Noticias, also known as the boss, Lucia Gando. Lu, how are you? Hello, Fer. Nice to be here with you again. And we still have to find a nickname for SBC Noticias journalist, Damián Martínez. Dami, how are you? Hi, Fer. Everything is good here. We will find it. We will find it soon. I'm thinking the easy way would be call you the crow.

15:20
as you are a San Lorenzo fan, which are known as the Crows. So, but I'm thinking of a more personalized thing. So we'll look into that in the future. But to go back to the gaming industry, which is what's important for iGaming Daily, I mentioned that we will discuss the image of the industry outside of Brazil that's going on through some struggles. There's something related to that.

15:49
After Cirsa took over the news lately as it finally made its debut on main Bolsa Madrid, the stock exchange, Lu? Yes, we're not going to go through technicalities, but Cirsa, one of the biggest gaming companies in Spain and Latin America, finally went out public this week with a price of around 3 billion valuation.

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It took months of preparation and they launched their IPO offering 25 % of the company, but only to institutional investors. The company currently operates in more than 150 casinos across different countries, especially centered in Latin America, Spain, Italy.

16:47
and the company has been reporting solid financials. So this step was taken after years of meeting restructuring goals to repair the company's heavy debt burden that they had, especially before the pandemic. And with this...

17:09
This new transaction Blackstone, which is the operator of Cirsa, hopes to reduce the company's debt and grow its financial position. The IPO is also notable because it marks the first major listing in Spain over two years, at a time when the market conditions are still somewhat uncertain. But they are generated, as you mentioned,

17:37
uncertainty between investors as well due to the gaming industry in general? I think I wasn't expecting something as much as the CSIRO IPO since the White Walkers and the Winter from Game of Thrones. You remember we started watching Game of Thrones maybe 2010 and the Winter was coming, the Winter is coming, the Winter is coming, the White Walkers were walking all white and...

18:04
They never came. It was the same with the IPO. It's always like, they're getting ready for the IPO. is getting ready. Blackstone says the IPO will be here soon. And it didn't come. It didn't come, but it finally came here. however, like you said, investors did not rush to buy Sears as they originally expected. Yeah, the reception wasn't exactly euphoric.

18:26
Investors didn't jump in as expected, partly because of ongoing concerns about the gaming industry itself, as we mentioned. We all know that this is a controversial industry. So many institutional investors are hesitant to associate their brands with the gaming sector. It's not only about financial returns, but also about

18:55
Ethics, as I mentioned, and internal policies, as I put it. Some firms admitted they avoid gambling stocks altogether to protect their reputation. So even though Sears managed to price its shares at around 10 euros, 9.41, I think, this price is right in the middle of the proposed range. The interest reflects a deeper

19:24
discomfort with the industry as we mentioned. Yeah, I'm sure we will have further news about the stocks, the Cirsa shares, the stock price. So make sure you subscribe to SBC Noticias newsletter to keep up to date with what happens with Cirsa. But speaking of image, there's a group of influencers from Argentina that has been sanctioned for promoting illegal gaming websites. And that's a new thing for us, Dami. Yes, Fer.

19:54
This was kind of a new case. This week, 16 Argentinean influencers charged with promoting illegal gambling platforms agreed with the Buenos Aires City justice system to record and broadcast awareness videos as part of a symbolic reparation. The agreement stipulated that they had to record a video using their image and voice to warn about the dangers of illegal gambling.

20:20
This material had to be published in story format for three days and remain on their social media feeds for at least a month. The Buenos Aires attorney general explained that it was inappropriate for the influencers to repair the damage caused through the same medium where they produce it. According to the official, a rapid resolution to the conflict was prioritized to provide a response to society and raise awareness of the problem. However, he warned

20:49
that for some lawsuits that are still ongoing or in cases or repeat offenses, the criminal investigation will continue and may include seizure of assets, money or property. It was a wide range of influencers because there were like one Danara was there, the agent, former wife, I think of Mauro Icardi, the footballer. And also this butcher I used to see on TikTok that he would like say, hey, if you go to to buy meat.

21:18
don't let the butcher give you this type of meat because it's a bad type and whatever. And that proves like how easy it is for the unauthorized gaming companies to actually approach any influencers from the smallest reach to the biggest because we have a butcher and we have one than other. that proves how easy it is for them to actually approach them and promote their operation. So it's very important that.

21:46
These types of sanctions are enforced so people learn which companies are allowed, which companies are not, and what is allowed and what is not. But advertising has also been on the public agenda for some time in Argentina. And now there's another province pushing a ban altogether, Lu. Yeah, it's Tucuman. They are moving forward with a bill to ban all forms of gambling advertising, especially on public spaces.

22:13
such as buses and general transport. The proposal, which already has support from multiple political parties, aimed to protect vulnerable groups. We have a lot of discussions here in Argentina about the advertising to young people. So they want to prevent young people from participating in the industry, which is...

22:43
something that is going on here in the country.

23:07
The Colombian Attorney General's office has proposed to harden the controls and audits of all the lotteries that are operating in the country. This decision has come after the wife of a commercial manager of Loteria de Medellin won a multi-million dollar prize. This of course has raised concerns about the possible improper involvement of current or former officials in the game. So they're starting an investigation and they will start an investigation

23:36
to all the lotteries in the country. Yeah, this reminds me of former Argentinian president Alberto Fernandez saying, my dear Fabiola threw a party during the quarantine that she should have not. This reminds me a bit of that. But my Argentine friends will understand what I'm saying. But that has been all for today. Thank you very much, Lou, Dami, also Anna and Elisa, who were in the first half of the episode. Thank you very much, James Ross, for producing this episode. And to our listeners out there, we'll see you in the next one.

24:06
Goodbye.