BtoBet Report: Digital Evolution in Latin America

Colombia perfectly paints the picture of region’s industry potential.

They became the first Latin American country to have successfully voted for regulations on online casinos and sports betting, as the government opened the doors for new licensees to enter the market in 2016. Still, the online gaming sector in Colombia does not take up a huge part of the overall local gambling market, as it contributed to only 9.4% of the total gaming revenues for the first half of last year.

Nevertheless, lately there are observant signs that the market is slowly but surely shifting towards online gambling, as this sector resumes to outgrow other verticals. This continuous growth is confirmed by Colombia’s regulatory body tax revenues for the year ending 31^st October 2019.

As a further proof for the industry’s growth in the country are the numbers regarding average expenditure per user per annum which noticed significant uprise from 20$ in 2015 to 94$ in 2017, along with the predictions that this figure will triple by 2021.

Latin American region was widely affected by Colombia’s growth over the past couple of years as other markets are now striving to achieve the prime example set by this country. But, one market surely stands out and despite its still weak regulatory aspect which is only a matter of time before that final piece of the puzzle settles in, Brazil is set to become a global powerhouse.

Its vast potential is portrayed by its 205.8 million population, with mobile connection penetration at 97%, while internet penetration sits at 71% (which is 150.4 million) and on top of all that it is essential to mention the 6% yearly increase registered from January 2019 to January 2020.

In addition, the International Betting Integrity Association’s (IBIA) response to the Brazilian Sports Betting Consultation furthermore demonstrated this market’s potential. In its reply it stated that in a scenario with a proper regulatory framework and taxation process Brazil’s market could skyrocket up to 2.4 million BRL in gross win revenues by 2024, as sports betting would equate to 95% of that market.

In the meantime the digitalization process of the industry continues at a fast pace. Many retail businesses have decided to take their operations online, in order to diversify their revenue stream by focusing on making the most out of their alternative content which is something they were unable to do with the brick and mortar approach. Moreover, many countries in the region have already created regulations which will ease the digitalization process for the retailers.

Luckily, there is a silver lining in this dire situation, as in order to recover from the economic blow brought about by the pandemic many countries will now push to establish regulations and legalize online betting and gambling. In such scenario, the industry will provide steady tax revenue for the state coffers.

One thing is certain… the LatAm region will experience a surge of new operators in the short to medium term.