Caixa Econômica Federal is planning its foray into the online sports betting market. The news was revealed by the bank’s executive president himself, Carlos Vieira.
According to Vieira, Caixa Econômica is structuring its entry into the world of betting, through a partnership between a lottery company recently created by the institution and a private partner.
Partnership with Ernst & Young
Caixa Econômica Federal entered into a partnership with Ernst & Young Assessoria Empresarial Ltda to structure its business model.
The contract, published in the Official Gazette of the Union, will last 12 months, starting on January 27th, with a total cost of R$2,150,000.00.
The contracting is based on article 28, 3rd, of Law 13,303/2016, which does not require bidding for public companies and mixed-capital companies.
Thus, this same company will be responsible for operating instant bets, also known as scratch cards, starting this year. The next step, scheduled for 2025, will be the launch of online betting.
Vieira mentioned that they already have a valuation estimate for this company within a period of one to one and a half years. Although the partnership involves a private partner, it is certain that the final product will bear the Caixa brand.
Until then, Caixa almost exclusively owned the lottery market in Brazil, but this reality has changed rapidly in recent years, with the significant growth of the online betting sector.
According to global consultancy Comscore, the online betting market grew 281% from 2019 to 2023, with 42.5 million users in the country.
Even though it was recently regulated by the Chamber of Deputies, the online betting market has already generated more than R$100 billion in Brazil in 2023, according to betting aggregator BNL.
Thus, with such a lucrative market, bookmakers earned around R$13 billion last year alone, representing an increase of 71% compared to 2020. Caixa’s entry into this sector already populated by several betting platforms indicates a competitive scenario ahead.
Caixa could be a partner for Flamengo stadium
Furthermore, Vieira revealed that Caixa signed a confidentiality agreement with Flamengo, aiming to discuss the financing of the club’s stadium. The intention is to replicate with Flamengo a model similar to that discussed with Corinthians, where Caixa has a debt of around R$600 million relating to the financing of Neo Química Arena.
In other words, Caixa’s proposal involves transforming the clubs’ debts into securities tradable on the market, backed by the stadiums. In this way, this would allow investors, including retail investors, to acquire these titles as a form of investment in clubs.
Despite not providing details about the discussions with Flamengo, Vieira mentioned that there are common interests on the agenda. The confidentiality agreement represents progress in the negotiations, indicating a possible evolution in the process.
Therefore, in addition to Flamengo, São Paulo Futebol Clube also approached Caixa to design a new stadium, even though it owns Morumbi. Thus, the São Paulo club could use the stadium as collateral for its bank debts, concentrating them in Caixa.
