Building on its acquisition of Playmaker Capital last year, Danish digital sports media group Better Collective is confident in its Latin American prospects – particularly with Brazil on the cusp of launching one of the world’s largest betting markets.
In an interview with SBC News ahead of his appearance at the SBC Summit Rio this week, CEO of Better Collective South America, Simon Hovmand-Stilling, emphasised the group’s confidence in taking its ‘winning formula’ to Brazil and Latin America at large.
“As one of the main market targets for our expansion strategy, Brazil has a high potential for rapid market growth, due to its sports-loving audience, and also the tradition of consuming sports content,” he explained.
“It is a large country with continental dimensions, marked by diverse cultures and varying economic and social levels. Nonetheless, the passion for sports is a common thread among the population.
“The important task lies in understanding each local market, its peculiarities, and, equally important, having local talents to execute the strategy and create content that caters to the local sports audiences.
“This has been the “winning formula” for Better Collective throughout the years when we have expanded our position across Europe and North America.”
President Lula da Silva signed legislation into law just before the New Year, which has now laid the foundations for the launch of a nationwide betting market in Brazil.
The regulations are still being ironed out, but a range of sporting stakeholders – including operators and media groups such as Entain and Better Collective respectively – are eagerly anticipating the market launch.
Betting regulation in Brazil poses opportunities not just to operators seeking to find custom among the sports loving population, but also to local sports teams, which will find commercial opportunities in partnerships with said operators, and media outlets eyeing up new audiences among sports bettors.
Brazil is not the only Latin American country with a high-profile betting market, however, with Colombia and Argentina, among others, also posing opportunities.
As noted above, Better Collective has already strengthened its standing in Brazil and Latin America at large via its takeover of Playmaker Capital in November last year for €176m.
“Brazil is a strategic focus market for our vision to become the leading sports media group,” Hovmand-Stilling continued.
“We have had a connection with Brazil for some years through media partnerships, with which we’ve been achieving excellent results in this market.
“Now, we have further strengthened our position and expanded our presence in the country with acquisitions of strong and well-established brands which will allow us to create even stronger value for our partners and contribute to the local market development.”
Hovmand-Stilling also pointed out that Better Collective, along with many other sports betting stakeholders including numerous big name multinational operators, has joined the Brazilian Institute of Responsible Gaming (IBJR).
The purpose of this organisation is to ‘support the country’s sustainable and responsible development of the igaming market’, Better Collective’s South America CEO explained to SBC.
Pursuing its goal as the leading digital sports media group in South America, Better Collective is confident that its takeover of Playmaker – which has a global audience of 400 million of which 210 million are from South America – has laid some solid groundwork.
Summarising the company’s approach to Brazil, he remarked: “This milestone solidifies our top position in the region’s audience ranking and aligns with our strategy to own and operate leading national sports media with a large and loyal audience.
“In South America, we pursue the same goals as in any other market; to own the go-to brands that fans turn to when looking for sports content – and to provide strong value to our advertising partners.”
To read Simon Hovmand-Stilling’s full interview with SBC News, click HERE.
Click HERE to find out more about the SBC Summit Rio, taking place from 5-7 March at the Windsor Conference and Expo Centre, Rio de Janeiro.
