The first edition of the Afiliados Latam – São Paulo event is taking place this Thursday, 30th, in the same environment that hosted the two days of intense programming at BiS 2022 (Brazilian iGaming Summit). Espaço JK, which is located on one of the most prestigious corners of São Paulo, at the intersection of Av. Juscelino Kubitscheck and Av. Faria Lima, hosted both events.
In addition to a select venue, this first edition also features high quality content and renowned speakers in the iGaming industry. Latam Affiliates is addressing trends in sports betting, casino games, bingo, poker and other modalities, as well as general digital marketing and affiliate marketing.
The iGaming Brazll team is carrying out extensive coverage bringing exclusive interviews, the best images and relevant information from the panels and lectures.
Check out the main points of the first debates of Afiliados Latam
Opening lecture: Affiliation in iGaming in Latin America
The event started with Alessandro Valente (Founding Partner Super Afiliados), greeting all the participants of the first edition of Afiliados Latam. “This is the first event that we are holding in Brasil de Afiliação focusing on iGaming exclusively”.
Furthermore, Valente thanked important names in national politics for taking part in the meeting, such as Deputy Newton Cardoso. The creator of the convention also mentioned traditional media vehicles and specialized media in the sector, such as the iGaming Brazil portal, for their coverage at BiS 2022 and now at Afiliados Latam.
Valente invited the idol of world football, Arthur Antunes Coimbra, ‘Zico’, to the stage and asked the former player to share how he uses his image and influence to help society.
Zico reported his participation in charity games and the process of creating the “Jogos das Estrelas” that takes place annually and directs “all collection to the entities of Rio de Janeiro”, complementing: “personally, I always try to be collaborating with campaigns like October Pink, Blue November”.
The ace also mentioned other initiatives: “We have partner schools, where we partner with governments and companies so that we can collect and pay teachers, infrastructure; where students pay nothing and can play football, study, etc”.
Zico also reported that when he was Secretary of Sport he created the first department for people with disabilities. “I’m very proud to have given the support so that athletes with disabilities could travel, compete”
At Valente’s request, the former soccer player also discussed what he learned during his time in Japan on the relationship between sport and society. “Sports help society and study comes first”, explaining that the country has a well-established model balancing dedication to studies and sport. “The study is highly important there, but here in Brazil most of the boys aged 16 are already professionalized with a contract”, he pointed out.
Asked about the prospects for the next World Cup, Zico expressed confidence in the work being carried out by the technical commission of the Brazilian team of coach Tite. “I’m seeing a tougher, more committed team. Despite what they say about the level of South American competition, Brazil and Argentina are favorites in the Qatar Cup.” The World Cup will take place in November and December for the first time.
Gambling and Betting
Alessandro Valente emphasized that the betting industry is consolidating in the country and supporting national sport, but it can also make a difference to social actions.
“Today we have a new industry, which ends up feeding the clubs, which is the betting industry. This is another important source of revenue that can contribute to this [beneficent] movement being stronger”, projecting: “with this market , possibly regulated, we will see a new golden age, as we saw in the 40s”.
For Zico, legalized games can bring positive results to society. “I have always been in favor of the game here in Brazil. I hid a several bicheiros in my house, in Quintino”. The idol of national football also told some curious stories about going to casinos after games abroad and defended the regulation of the sector: “we will try to do things that are beneficial to our society”.
Panel – Differences between Affiliation and iGaming and other sectors
The first lecture was moderated by Pedro Lucas (Head of Affiliates at Super Afiliados) and involved Abelardo Dantas (Affiliate of Chapeubets), Flávio Raimundo (Commercial Director of AFiliados Brasil) and Rodrigo ‘Loco’ Alves (Head od Content of Eightroom). “Let’s talk about how the gambling affiliate market differs from the general affiliate market,” started the moderator.
Abelardo Dantas narrated his beginnings in the area of affiliates. “I have always been researching a lot about this world of Affiliation and Digital Marketing. Today I work particularly with the betting and casino market”.
Dantas also gave some guidelines for those who are willing to enter this market. “The first is to require post-back, which is a way for the casino to communicate with its system. Second, the casino, or bookmaker, must be prepared to receive Brazilian traffic, it must have service in Brazilian Portuguese, be translated in Portuguese and must have an accessible minimum deposit”, adding: “In addition to a good flow, a simple registration form. And of course, a good deal to work with”.
Flávio Raimundo also recalled his entry into the medium, promoting Amazon products in the United States. However, he pointed out that currently the iGaming market is yielding excellent numbers for affiliates. “The volume generated by games and sports betting is much greater than that of the traditional market”, stressing the potential of Brazil: “Brazilians love to bet, we have 220 million Brazilians who like it”.
Furthermore, the director of Afiliados Brasil said that it is possible to use alternative methods to promote the gambling market. “In media buying, you can make ‘inventories’ on sites to advertise and you can buy traffic for the gambling market”, adding: “you can also create projects, content sites, specific portals” to generate this traffic or profitability.
While Rodrigo ‘Loco’ Alves made a point of clarifying that his nickname ‘Loco’ is the abbreviation of ‘Locomotiva’, in reference to his heart team Ponte Preta. Diving into the theme of the debate, he rescued the scenario of 2007, 2008,
“Sports betting was actually born in Brazil in 2007, with Sportingbet. In 2008, I started looking for content about sports betting and couldn’t find it. Because of that, I founded the biggest sports betting forum at the time” and today, the situation is totally different and “betting and casinos are seen as an opportunity in Brazil”.
‘Loco’ also pondered that there is a ‘win, win, win’ in iGaming affiliation: “It is possible for the operator to win, for the affiliate to win and for the player to win”. About the affiliation, he commented: “you can, effectively, bring some real benefit with the Affiliation. If there is something that really differs the affiliation in gambling, from the traditional Affiliation it is the responsibility”.
Lecture – Positive aspects of approving games in Brazil
Congressman Newton Cardoso began by presenting his story and his connection with the gaming activity. He participated in the special commission that evaluated the text of bill 442, which deals with regulation. “I included an amendment in the text of the PL, which slightly broke the idea of only meeting the integration of casinos with resorts”.
Cardoso recalled the process so far: “In 2017, when we approved the final text of PL 442, impeachment, voting and other issues that led to the delay of the agenda came. year: the legalization of gambling. We created a working group, coordinated by Deputy Bacelar, together with Herculano Passos, Felipe Carreras”.
In 2021, the working group had the opportunity to take the agenda to all important bodies and stakeholders in the Brazilian scenario. “We took it to all those who were interested, who could cooperate and suggest for the text. Shortly after, we managed to put the text to a vote in Congress. And with that, after more than 70 years of prohibition, we brought the possibility of legalization”
The politician was emphatic in defending that the games be regulated as soon as possible in Brazil. “I understand that it needs to get out of illegality. We are missing the train of history, with the non-legalization, with the delay in the regulation of betting and with a retrograde vision of a good part of the government”.
And he continued defending the proposal: “why are we going to continue with a somewhat blurred vision with a modality that has so much potential in Brazil? We need to make more people come from abroad, provide more entertainment options”.
According to Cardoso, the collection can reach 30 billion reais and can be used for education, health and other good causes. “I am guaranteeing a new contribution, through CIDJOGOS, which goes directly to the state”, he revealed.
Regarding the consideration of the agenda in the Senate, the deputy stated that he has already received confirmation from President Rodrigo Pacheco that the Senate will vote on the topic. “It won’t stay in the drawer. I’m sure, on the part of the Senate, that approval will happen. And, we have no doubt that the Regulatory Framework will bring great benefits to Brazilian society”.
The federal deputy was also questioned by Alessandro Valente about the need to debate the regulation of affiliate marketing. “If today we are able to make technology improve human life, we are going to use it. There is no way to escape this reality. So this regulation has to happen”.
Finally, Cardoso stressed that there are issues that can no longer be disregarded due to technological developments. “We are in a phase of discussing important technology topics, but that our tax issue cannot keep up with, so it’s time for that”, he concluded.
Lecture – Why should I invest my time in gaming industry affiliation
Thomas Carvalhaes (VDR regional director) was responsible for this moment at Afiliados Latam and highlighted the growth of games in the country. “It is cool to see the level that the gaming and betting sector is taking in Brazil and the interest it is generating in the international industry. And, over the years, I helped launch several bookmakers in Brazil and Latin America.”
Carvalhaes also praised the strong likelihood that the country will have formalized regulation in the coming months. “Finally, it looks like we’re reaching the pinnacle of having our full regulation of sports betting.”
Therefore, he believes that the gaming industry tends to become extremely interesting for affiliate marketers. “According to studies, the betting industry in Brazil already moves 2 billion a year”, citing some opportunities, such as receiving in other currencies, jurisdictions and agility in operations. Among the most common deals between operators and affiliates, the executive mentioned CPA, Revenue Share and even hybrid models involving both types of agreement.
However, Carvalhaes recommended that professionals be cautious about the details of each jurisdiction and the reputation of the companies before closing an affiliation agreement. “It’s important to do some research before closing any affiliation deal with bookmakers.”
Panel – Learn to Surf the Big Wave of eSports and Fantasy Games
A topic so hot all over the world could not be left out of Afiliados Latam and Léo de Biase (Co-founder of BBL) had the mission to moderate the debate with Luis Guilherme (regional director of Rivalry), Newton Fleury Junior (creator of Cartola FC), Pedro Schmidt (CEO of Stars Horizon) and Rodolfo Salgado (commercial director of BES Agency).
Léo de Biase pointed out that the electronic sports industry is experiencing an exceptional growth phase and attracting a lot of attention from the world of betting and fantasy games. “After this growth, the betting market arrived, which already moves a great value in the market”.
According to Pedro Schmidt, the post-pandemic scenario resulted in a big change for eSports. “We have seen that in recent years, electronic sports has been present, gamers are already more than 60% in Brazil. Great entrepreneurs began to understand that this scenario is already growing”.
For Luis Guilherme, the way to explore this eSports market for betting is different. “eSports has a very strong connection with streamers and in this way we were able to leverage more of the influence of eSports.
Newton Fleury Junior highlighted that the convergence between the gaming industry, eSports, betting and blockchain will bring “three major changes in the scenario, namely: a change in the UX factor, a change in the communities factor. and eSports is a very social world. And the third change is the Play to Earn factor, a factor that revolutionizes through blockchains and NFTs”.
According to De Biase, it makes sense to relate eSports and betting. “The majority of players are between 18 and 35 years old, so most players have their financial stability, they are already introduced to the world of betting”.
Rivalry’s regional director stressed that it is essential to understand what this audience wants and provide that delivery. “Working directly with an influencer is something the public generally expects from an eSports bookmaker.” He also recalled that the affiliation market is something new in eSports and, therefore, it will be necessary to teach these concepts to affiliates.
Rodolfo Salgado also stressed that bookmakers should increasingly relate to the communities, promoting tournaments and events to attract their audience, especially the younger ones. “Many young people, over 18, already bet on eSports by following their favorite teams or players”.
Schmidt agreed with this point, reporting that this audience is growing and can help this industry transform into something “as big as football. “What’s missing for the betting market and iGaming to connect is time, the maturing of the market”, he concluded.