The schedule of the main football congress in Latin America, Brasil Futebol Expo 2022 (BFExpo), opened space to discuss the opportunities and importance of bookmakers for Brazilian teams this Wednesday, 7th. Held by the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF), the event continues until Thursday, 8.
It should be noted that BFEXPO 2022 aims to strengthen the development of the football industry, focusing on business, education, experience and innovation in a special year of the World Cup. Therefore, the growing Brazilian sports betting market was included in the agenda of the fair held in São Paulo (SP).
The ‘Brasil Sports Betting Summit’, a BFExpo event in partnership with SBC (Sports Betting Community), a company that produces content on the segment, featured activities focused on the sector’s regulation process and the expansion of the industry in Brazil.
The portal iGaming Brazil followed the main moments of these two days of Brasil Sports Betting Summit, interviewing personalities from the sports environment, bringing the best photos and information in real time.
Check below the most relevant topics discussed in this Wednesday’s panel, which had the participation of Paula Young (SAF Botafogo (SAF), Jorge Avancini (Internacional) and George Harbourne (Yellow).
Paula Young (SAF Botafogo)
The debate began with a presentation by Paula Young (SAF Botafogo) about her trajectory in the sports scenario and the beginning of her involvement with the sports betting sector. “My first experience was with Cariocão Betfair. At the time, the Betfair channel within our platform, which broadcasts the championship with a trader, a betting professional”.
“Our channel had access to more than a million people a day. And they asked us to do more of this type of transmission. Today, it is common to see betting brands joining the transmission vehicles”, he pointed out.
Six months ago, Paula started working at Botafogo and told about some of the actions carried out in partnership with Blaze, the current master sponsor of the carioca club. The objective of these activations is to expand the presence of the betting brand, which was included on the website, shirts, social media and at the Botafogo Training Center.
According to the professional, the objective is to transform the football market through the professionalization of all departments. “We arrived at John Textor, a guy who is passionate about football. After he joined, all our statistics are increasing, especially on social media and in the number of fans,” he said.
From then on, the club began to look for a master sponsor in the market that would fit the model proposed by Textor. “At that moment, we found Blaze, which had a perfect fit with the Botafogo brand. We’ve been building this partnership for two months,” he concluded.
Rafael Soares – marketing director at Santos
Following, Rafael Soares reported on the work he is developing at Santos in order to increase the reach and exalt the club’s history beyond Brazilian borders. Recently, Peixe promoted special actions abroad and launched a shirt in Portugal. “Our brand internationalization campaign is focused on valuing the club,” he said.
In addition, Soares stressed that Alvinegro Praiano also took advantage of the cryptocurrency boom to close relevant partnerships. “We traded with Binance at a strong moment for cryptocurrencies, which will arrive in Brazil with full force, as with Sócios.com, Bitci”.
The marketing director also detailed the process of changing sponsors between the end of 2018 and the beginning of 2019, a period in which the club needed to reinvent itself. “Bets began to understand that buying space on a club’s shirt is much cheaper than a TV commercial, for example.”
“The need for clubs makes space prices cheaper, and the placement of the Bet brand is wider: as in CTs, shirts, social networks, etc. The bookmakers understood that this is a much cheaper way than than buying traditional media,” he added.
The Santos representative pointed out that this generation of revenue is making a difference in national football, but that clubs need to be aware of market news. “This revenue generation counts for a lot. We should always look at what’s catching on at the moment.”
Jorge Avancini (Internacional)
While Jorge Avancini told how he joined Internacional’s marketing and media department. The executive shared with the public the main challenges of creating a platform, establishing communication and activations with fans.
For Avancini, technological evolution, social media and apps are allowing the club to have an international reach. However, he warned that one cannot ignore traditional forms of sponsorship as sources of income.
“We were very concerned about establishing a partnership with a bookmaker, as it is an activity without regulation, despite already being a reality in football”, revealed Avancini.
Even so, the club started to receive proposals from players in the sector. “We started to move, in January of this year, with the market and with the emergence of new betting operators, we started to be sought after”.
Avancini also recalled how the negotiation with EstrelaBet, Colorado’s current partner, was. “One day we received the people from EstrelaBet, with Rafael Zanetti, who said: ‘we want Inter’. I consider EstrelaBet a historic case.
In addition, he highlighted the need for sponsors to seek activations that generate identification in fans and fans, something that betting brands promote more often. “Today we are on the path of digital media and bookmakers. The bookmakers that saved clubs during the pandemic”, he declared.
George Harborne (Yellow)
George Harborne opened his participation in the event by comparing the Brazilian and European markets, citing that the South American market is closer in terms of sponsorships and teams.
The Yellow representative also mentioned the recent regulations of betting markets in the United States, as several states are releasing the modality. For Harbone, the North American market is one of the biggest in the world in terms of sports, due to the great competitions.
Still on regulation, he analyzed Brazil’s current process to complete the regulation of the activity, as well as highlighted that the UK government is promoting a review (White Paper) of its gaming industry legislation.
George Harborne also addressed the experience between fan, operator and team, something that should be the focus of any partnership in the sports segment. “The betting industry has a great opportunity in Brazil, a great market.”
In his view, successful experiences in Europe should serve as a reference for the Brazilian market. “The construction of this market could be done in the right way with a focus on partnerships, activations”, but Harborne said he learned a lot from Brazilian practices: “some activations I saw here in Brazil taught me a lot”.
