LANDING ON YOUR FEET IN LATIN AMERICA

With BETBAZAR’s B2B worldwide iGaming marketplace having already made a major impact in Europe,GamingIntelligence caught up with BETBAZAR COO, Max Sevostianov, to find out why the company now has its sights set on the LATAM market and what developments they expect to see in the region in 2023 and beyond.

While a lot of the discourse in the iGaming industry over the past few years has been focused on state-by-state legislation and the gradual opening up of online gambling in the US, it’s important to note that if we broaden our scope a little there’s also a potential goldmine forming south of the border too.

I refer, of course, to the Latin American market, where online gambling is now seeing a level of growth that’s more than keeping pace with what we’ve witnessed in North America so far. Suffice to say, with more than 435 million inhabitants spread across the continent, the LATAM market is a big one – and given the population’s love of sports and sports betting, it’s an area that’s currently ripe for investment.

Indeed, according to the latest statistical data, the current market scope for online gambling in Latin America is estimated to be worth approximately $11.80 billion, with the prognosis from PESTEL analysis suggesting that number could increase to $14.75 billion by 2029. Those figures indicate a market that not only has solid existing fundamentals, but also a high ceiling for future growth as well.

In light of this, the question then becomes how should online betting operators looking to break into the LATAM region go about cornering their share of this increasingly lucrative market? Well, at BETBAZAR we believe we’ve collated the perfect range of best-in-class products to appeal to LATAM bettors, but generally speaking esports – particularly efootball – and live casino should be a big focus.

Dealing with the two verticals in order, it certainly doesn’t take a cultural anthropologist to recognise that people in Latin America are generally crazy about football. With the country’s rich sporting history and multiple FIFA World Cup triumphs, this is particularly true for Brazil, where our internal data has shown that beyond regular live matches, bettors are already also tuning in for efootball tournaments.

With coverage of these tournaments available 24/7, an average match duration of approximately eight minutes and over 25,000 events covered each month, we’re absolutely certain that efootball has everything required to further establish itself in the LATAM market – and the fact that it’s so easily accessible should ensure it retains its popularity both during and between regular live football events.

Moving on to live casino, in a continent that boasts countries the size of Brazil, Argentina, Peru and Chile, it goes without saying that visiting a local bricks-and-mortar casino is not necessarily that easy for the majority of LATAM casino players. As such, having a wide range of live casino games available that replicate this immersive experience online can be a great way for operators to bridge the gap.

With these live casino titles being broadcast 24/7 from purpose-built studios around the world, LATAM players can log in any time of the day or night and enjoy authentic interactions with both dealers and players alike. This – coupled with the fact that streams are often available in HD – ensures live casino is as close as customers can get to the real thing without leaving the comfort of their homes.

Naturally it goes without saying that one of the easiest and most accessible ways to provide a quality live casino or esports betting experience is to ensure that your product is fully mobile compatible. Again, according to open statistical data we can already see that mobile devices are dominating the end use segment in the Latin American market, indicating most players are enjoying games on the go.

With this in mind, it’s vitally important for operators to ensure that their products not only perform well on mobile when it comes to things like high stability of internet connections and low latency on streams, but also that their UIs are customised to cater for mobile users. We fully expect the operators that take these factors into account to thrive in the LATAM market, while those that don’t will lose out.

Given that whenever BETBAZAR looks for a new content creator, we always put an additional focus on how the product views and performs on all devices, our B2B worldwide iGaming marketplace is already well set-up to handle the demands of LATAM players. This means partners can be sure of the usability of the products that we offer in the region and that they won’t miss out on any potential player traffic.

Another nuance of the LATAM market that online gambling companies should be aware of is the way that both customers and clients consume their media. While LinkedIn has been a hugely successful platform for building BETBAZAR’s B2B relationships in Europe, our internal marketing research has indicated social platforms like Facebook and Instagram are generally more effective in Latin America.

As such, we’ll definitely be looking to launch another social channel as we expand in the region and we’d recommend any other businesses with similar aspirations do likewise. As an extension of this, it’s also important that companies look to fully localise their products and the marketing around them, paying particular attention to the region’s most commonly-spoken languages, Spanish and Portuguese.

While there’s obviously a lot to consider when attempting to make a successful entry into the LATAM market, at BETBAZAR we believe the region really has a lot of potential for operators who are savvy enough to pick up on the emerging trends and adapt their offering accordingly. With all available data suggesting that online gambling will only continue to grow in the region in the coming years, there’s no time like now to get in on the ground floor and start catering for players’ esports and casino needs.

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