Success of  ‘Dançe of Pigeon’ collaborates to increase sports betting, says entrepreneur
Photo: Lucas Figueiredo/CBF

It’s the pigeon! Striker Richarlison was one of the main highlights of the Brazilian team at the 2022 World Cup. The difference is that his ‘pigeon dance’, a song that went viral on social media in a funk tone, impacted the number of bettors he had on and off the lawns.

At bookmakers, the Tottenham player was one of the favourites. One of the reasons for the success is the number 9’s own performance on the field, on the other hand, the influence that this musical phenomenon had on the athlete significantly contributed to his awakening the interest of Internet users.

“The song went viral, it was a huge hit and everyone started sharing it. When that happens, the public joins the wave, does the little dance… And the bets are on that athlete (laughs). or the artistic scene of a certain athlete pumping and being positive from the point of view of betting volume”, said Rodrigo Oliveira, creator of Podersports.

According to the businessman, the strategy has even become a maneuver for other players to have the same expertise and take advantage of it to enter the musical universe with everything.

“We know that the TikTok era influences, that it becomes a wave. And many people already think of it as a force to undertake, like the players. What we see is a very big bet on this type of viralization for that figure to pump in its other segments, such as sports betting”, concluded Oliveira.

World Cup boosted sports betting market

According to a study by the multinational bank Barclays, the Qatar World Cup registered around US$ 35 billion (R$ 186 billion) in sports betting. It is approximately 65% ​​higher than the Russian Cup in 2018.

A statistic was also carried out that, of this amount, US$ 2.5 billion (R$ 13 billion) were bet on the final alone, plus US$ 1 billion (R$ 5.3 billion) per game in the round of 16, quarterfinals and semifinals. , and US$ 400 million (R$ 2.1 billion) in each group stage duel.

One of the factors for these stratospheric numbers, also captured by the betting intelligence company H2 Gambling Capital, refers to the fact that the World Cup in Qatar is the first global sporting event since the end of restrictions on sports betting in the United States. Furthermore, the World Cup came at a time when the sector was becoming more popular in Brazil.