On the horizon of the gaming market, e-sports are seen as an area of great growth. “One of the biggest (game simulations) and for the next five years, will be the e-sports. We, the companies, need to keep an eye on this”, said Fernando Garita, head of Business Development for Latin America at Betcris. Garita participated in a panel at SiGMA Americas. The event deals with the iGaming universe, which includes several types of games, such as poker and sports betting, for example.
E-sports, or electronic sports, are the names given to games in which players act as professional athletes, competing seriously among themselves. There are tournaments and even broadcasts of disputes over the internet or television.
The e-sports are successful among the millennials, but also among the group that Garita called “pandemials”. “After the pandemic, we will have a different behavior from the customers”, he concluded, remembering that it will be necessary to adapt to the changes.
For him, as many sports leagues stopped because of the Covid-19 pandemic, those who bet on sports migrated to online options.
E-sports in the pandemic: sports games were not affected
In another panel, Pedro Angelo de Sousa, Jam Jar marketing and monetization consultant, reminded that e-sports were able to maintain their activities during the pandemic. This is because, despite being live events, the e-sports do not depend on them.
In the same panel, it was reinforced the idea of the Covid-19 pandemic as an accelerator of the migration to online games, because many players were prevented from going to their usual gambling places. And in the assessment of Juan Barrachina, Kambi’s Group General Manager, it also increased the pressure on authorities to regulate the games. “Now is the time for the big change for everyone”, he said, praising the regulation adopted by Colombia.
In Brazil, liberalisation will cause ‘domino effect on the continent’
Thinking about the post-Covid scenario, Eddie Morales, sales director of BetGames TV for Latin America, is keeping an eye on possible new laws, especially in Brazil. “Brazil will start a domino effect on the continent”, he predicted.
In order to take advantage of all of Latin America’s potential, first of all it is necessary to understand that this is a continent with several countries and not a single market. This is the opinion of several experts who participated in the panels.
One of those who supported this idea was Thomas Carvalhaes, a specialist and consultant in iGaming in Brazil and Latin America. For him, companies that want to enter a Latin American country need to understand this diversity and adapt the strategy to each nation. Carvalhaes participated in a third debate at the event.
In the same debate, Florencia Brancato, Pinnacle’s country manager for Latin America, explained that given the characteristics of each country, it is important to have a local team. “You can have an entire team based in Uruguay, Argentina, wherever you want. But you need to have people in the other countries who can help you understand what is happening”, she noted.
About the challenge of keeping the talents, Carvalhaes cites the appropriate leadership to the local profile. On the other hand, Cris Matus, COO of Ganabet MX, talked about how leadership has to act. For him, we must recognize, above all, that “people no longer work only for money. They need to be challenged, they want to make a difference. And you need to offer the environment for that”. In addition, he defends that leadership has to ensure that the team is certain that the right decisions are being taken. In addition, they need to feel that they will have room to grow.
