For years, Brazil was labelled as potentially the most exciting unregulated gambling market on the planet and, with a football and sports obsessed population of 212.8 million strong, it is easy to understand why.
This label, however, has now become moot – as Brazil is no longer a grey and unregulated space, but rather a recently awakened sleeping giant. Following a turbulent road to regulation that spanned almost half a decade, the Brazilian Government’s Secretariat of Prizes and Bets finally ushered 68 online gaming businesses into its market at the turn of the year – joined by a provisional number of 67 sports betting operators.
The SiGMA Americas 2025 Summit, then, marks the first opportunity for the global gambling industry to gather in this newly integrated marketplace – acting as a welcome party for this new era in both Brazil and wider Latin American gaming. The excitement is, already, palpable.
With the dust having barely settled on Brazil’s landmark regulation bill, 18,000 delegates from all four corners of the industry are now set to flock towards the city of São Paulo, as a unit of over 300 speakers from both in and outside the gambling sphere gear up to unpick the near-endless opportunities of a lucrative market in bloom.
Indeed, speakers from the regulatory sector set to appear at this year’s SiGMA Americas conference include Charles Mizzi, CEO of the Malta Gaming Authority, and Ioanna Fiakkou, Chairwoman of the National Betting Authority Cyprus. Further, executives from companies ranging across both the online gaming and sports betting landscape are set to make appearances, such as; Pontus Lindwall, President & CEO of Betsson AB, Uri Poliavich, Founder & CEO of Soft2Bet and Cristiano Blanco, CEO of Hard Rock Casino Netherlands (and formerly CEO of Dazn Bet).
None of these attendees will, you expect, attract as much attention as a man who would be known locally as El Lobo. Recognised more globally as the Wolf (of Wall Street), former stockbroker-turned-author and motivational speaker Jordan Belfort is also set to deliver a talk at the conference.
Will anyone be able to sell him that pen?
Recognised more globally as the Wolf (of Wall Street), former stockbroker-turned-author and motivational speaker Jordan Belfort is also set to deliver a talk at the conference
Alongside the 3,240 operators expected to be in attendance, an additional 2,240 affiliates will also be arriving in São Paulo to peruse the 600+ exhibitors and sponsors that are set to decorate the conference hall floor at SiGMA Americas 2025. Further, the event will feature exclusive networking dinners, two start-up pitches and a cultural tour.
After launching its first Brazil-based exposition last year, SiGMA has opted to return to the same venue for this second iteration of its Americas conference. As such, the SiGMA Americas 2025 conference is set to be held at the Transamerica Expo Center. Built in 2001, the centre has undergone a series of modernisation developments over the past 24 years and boasts a space which includes seven halls, 12 meeting rooms, 40,000m2 of leasable area, alongside 100,000m2 of built area.
Breaking down the agenda, this three-day event – which officially kicks off on Tuesday 8 April 2025, will also see a pre-event inauguration of the Youth Empowerment Sports School in São Paulo by the SiGMA Foundation. As part of a newly brokered partnership with the local Brazilian Government, the SiGMA Foundation is set to inaugurate a sports pavilion in a remote area of São Paulo on Monday 7 April, which seeks to empower the Favela’s youth community through encouraging interaction with sports.
Following on from this, Day 1 of SiGMA Americas 2025 in São Paulo will commence at 10am the following day, with leaders from across the industry set to showcase their latest offerings, as well as unpicking everything Brazil and LatAm gaming as part of a range of speeches and panels.
This theme will continue across the three-day event, with each day set to conclude with networking drinks at the conference centre, alongside an iGathering, invitation-only dinner for Premium and Platinum ticket holders – as well as selected C-Level casino operators. Further, on the final day of the show, the BiS SiGMA official celebration party will be open to all ticket holders and is set to run from 10pm – 2am.
Logistically, the Transamerica Expo Center is located in South-West São Paulo, situated in the Santo Amaro neighbourhood of the city. Located on the other side of the city entirely, in North-East São Paulo, is the main commercial airport. Evidently, this is not ideal for those looking to make a quick getaway after the show, as the drive between the two climbs up towards the 90-minute mark. However, this also provides the perfect reason to situate one’s accommodation directly between the conference and the airport, in the heart of Brazil’s largest city.
São Paulo is, in fact, the most populated city in all of the Americas, trailed by Lima, Mexico City and New York City. While a visit to SiGMA Americas 2025 is, of course, strictly business, delegates looking to squeeze in a little bit of local culture will have a world of tastes, smells, sights and sounds to explore in the city – with world-class food and drink on the doorstep, alongside history, music and sports culture everywhere you look.
Sports betting industry stakeholders will want to take a good look, too, as some 46.1% of Brazilians (around 99.6 million people) were reported to have wagered on sports in the nation during 2023. Now, with the regulation of the sports betting market sparking a mass migration of the world’s top sportsbook operators to the nation, that number can only go one way – and that way is up (and up, and up).
It would seem, then, that SiGMA Americas 2025 is the place to be for all things Brazilian and Latin American gambling this year.
