“Brazil the catapult to follow’ as Affiliates eye LatAm opportunities against conflicts
The Affiliate Leaders panel at SBC LatAm Summit warns that M&A and SEO-heavy strategies will not cut it in South America, where audiences require a dynamic approach to engage with sportsbooks and online casinos.
Affiliate leaders are optimistic of the prospects of further South American sportsbook and igaming markets being imminently regulated and opening new commercial horizons.
A fresh destination is urgently required by igaming’s media stakeholders, as 2022 has highlighted the costly scars of Europe’s ever-deepening market saturation and the multi-million investment needed to operate US affiliate properties, fragmented by state-by-state requirements.
The current status and future prospects of South America’s affiliate and media landscape were dissected by affiliate leaders at the SBC LatAm Summit in Miami.
“Our view is that Latin America is an up-and-coming market,” declared Catena Media Chief Executive Michael Daly beginning the panel’s proceedings.
“It’s probably been ignored for too long by my company, as North America has taken off so strongly… But for us that changes next year.”
“The signs for us were that Brazil came close to regulating, and other countries such as Colombia are moving along.
“Everyone talks about the large volume and low value of players, but one offsets the other. It is such a huge market that even a very small percentage of high-value players will generate significant numbers.
“For us being so SEO-heavy, the challenge will be how to get into individual markets and deliver truly localised content promoting casino and sportsbook… We need more Catena people who live and breathe South American sports betting and gambling.”
The regulatory development of South America’s nascent markets has been closely monitored by Gamelounge Chief Strategy Officer (CSO) Ionut Constantinescu, who observed “a continent-wide transition from land-based gaming to online”.
Of significance, Constantinescu asserted: “It is possible that in a two-to-three year period, online gambling could witness a full regulatory environment across all of South America, representing an incredible opportunity.”
Constantinescu eagerly awaits the outcome of Brazil’s federal sports betting and gambling regimes, stating that “Brazil will be the catapult for others to follow, be it Chile, Peru, Paraguay and Panama”.
A pending domino effect, Constantinescu believes that “Brazil’s opening of a huge sports market, will open a new frontier for investment targeting localised affiliates that service native audiences”.
Clever Advertising COO Marcos Oliveira agreed with the observation that localisation was the explicit factor to LatAm success. However, he warned new LatAm incumbents not to “fall into lazy European strategies” that require an alignment marketing towards a single vertical.
Oliveira believes that South America will require more dynamic and engaging marketing and media strategies needed for affiliates to establish new brand-led propositions to engage with mass market audiences.
He explained, “Yes, we know that the markets are very different. But the positive thing is that every strategy works as you are allowed to do PPC, SEO, social media and influencer marketing uninterrupted”.
“Some markets may be very heavy on sports, but the exciting element is that affiliates can use all marketing strategies to build their brands”.
Whilst there may be “no exact roadmap to success”, Oliveira believes that South America’s most desirable portals will be those that are present across all mediums, delivering coverage that matches the presence of local media incumbents.
Source: SBC News
