Coingaming’s Arthur Silva has developed an affinity for the national sport of soccer in Brazil. The local view is that soccer is a religion in Brazil and it’s hard to argue that point when you consider the rich history of the national team. Silva sat down with Calvinayre.com lead report Becky Liggero Fontana to share his insights on the potential opportunities for gaming operators in the Brazilian market.
While Brazil isn’t quite the wild west of the gaming market, Silva was keen to stress that it’s an easier market if you have the right people on the ground. “I think it starts with who is advising you in Brazil,” Silva stresses.
“Our presence in Brazil is surprisingly good,” he added.
Liggero Fontana was keen to find out if there’s a market for Bitcoin and blockchain in Brazil at some point in the future for gaming operators. According to Silva, the current landscape in Brazil isn’t friendly towards Bitcoin and blockchain for a simple reason. “Thirty percent of the population don’t have access to the internet.”
Opportunities for blockchain and Bitcoin will come when the government looks to build a solid internet infrastructure, that’s stable and widely available to the local mass market. Silva believes that letting nature take its course in the customer withdrawal process is the best course of action. “We believe this is a natural process, once customers experience slowness of getting a deposit withdrawal, we’ll never see the customer going back to fiat,” he said.
A huge part of Silva’s business in Brazil has been building the relationship with the Flamengo soccer club. Flamengo are one of the biggest teams in Brazil, with a fanbase that stretches across the entire country. According to Silva, the club has a special place in the hearts of Brazilian soccer fans.
“One out of every four Brazilians support Flamengo, it has a very special setup because it does not cover just Rio de Janeiro, it has penetrations in the east of Brazil, that are a very important market for us,” Silva said.
According to Silva, the sponsorship journey was an evolutionary process with the Flamengo club. “We had the opportunity to get the shoulder, and you know we had the taste from the digital it was massive. It was a very good surprise for us, when we got the chance we embraced it,” he said.
The partnership with Flamengo has helped Silva’s brand build some strong roots in the Brazilian market, thanks to its broad supporter base. “We choose the club because it fits our strategy in Brazil perfectly, we wanted a club that covers the entire territory,” he added.
In the full interview, Silva goes onto to give his insights on how regulations could increase the cost of sponsorship in Brazil and he shares his advice on developing sponsorship opportunities in the LATAM market. Subscribe at the CalvinAyre.com YouTube channel to see more videos like this as they are published, and if you prefer an audio version, subscribe on Google, Apple Podcasts, and Spotify.
