iGB round-up: The Chile effect

  Trafficology was in attendance, speaking to some of the industry’s biggest names and catching up with a few newcomers (such as DeepCI) to assess the state of play and which the names to watch in the near future are – with one LatAm country mentioned more than the rest. No, it’s not Brazil...

LatAm
  The big name of the lips of many was Chile. Yes, Brazil is a market that is currently expanding at record speed – and many did highlight the importance of the Brazilian market – but it was the country on the western coast of South America that was the popular kid at school. Speaking with Boss Partners, Alex Syvachenko– a senior affiliate manager – stated that: “Chile, from what can be seen, is more digitalised country than some of its neighbours. It is a dreamland I want to discover.”
  Aleksandra Drigo from SEO Brothers further compounded the excitement around Chile, saying: “This year, everybody wants to know about Chile. Because the volume of players in LatAm is very high but the value of each player is very low, each operator is trying to find one country that has money – and it is Chile. The traffic and conversion there is very good, everybody wants to be there – Chile, Chile, Chile is what we hear all the time from the operators.”
  Moving away from (what Drigo described as) “Chile, Chile, Chile,” the aforementioned Brazil remained the next market that is due to (further) explode – with regulations finally expected to take effect sooner rather than later. During one discussion with Campeón’s Head of Affiliates, Andreza Majela, on day three of the event, Majela stated: “Brazil is booming now, there is a lot of potential, good players and evolving in terms of regulation. Now is a good time to get into the market and understand it well before the regulations come into place, as well as work with the regulators when they go live to have a good presence there.”
  However, it wasn’t the case of gambling companies waiting to be blessed by Christ the Redeemer high atop the Corcovado mountain. When speaking to Vladimir Malakchi, the CCO of Evoplay was sceptical about the optimism surrounding the country – telling Trafficology he has heard the market may not fully regulate until “2025 or 2026.”
  He added: “They have been talking about regulations for too many years. It’s not easy to license so many operators, from a regulator point-of-view, it’s really a huge job. I don’t trust that it will be (snaps his fingers).” Though, the Evoplay CCO did acknowledge that Brazil remains Evoplay’s largest market in LatAm, saying: “Brazil is initially one of the biggest markets in Latin America. When it regulates, it will destroy some black market guys. It will be easier for work, easier for trust, easier for play and easier for everybody.”

Europe
  Sitting down with Lewis Civin, CEO of the recently acquired DeepCI, he spoke of his excitement of working under the EveryMatrix banner and whether he sees a trend of suppliers partnering with affiliates. “In my experience, the people that were interested in acquiring us were not tech companies – that would be like somebody like us acquiring us – it was operators and affiliates."
  Civin added: “So, we’re seeing in a relatively niche value chain like iGaming, there is only so much depth there, at some point, you have to start going wider. I see that becoming more common as people expand laterally to payment processing etc just to keep going.”
  Coming back to Campeón, Majela also spoke of her excitement for the Estonian market, which is regulated and one of the few markets in Europe that isn’t as mature. Indeed, she feels there is "a little bit of a buzz there.” One mature market that is about to undergo significant changes to its regulation is the UK, where the UK Government’s White Paper was a topic of conversation. Speaking of the UK’s gambling reform, Trustly’s Vasilije Lekovic said: “Now that it’s arrived, it includes affordability requirements from the operator, for which we provide solutions and is ready to be utilised to ensure safer gambling. We built the product to be what we expected to see in the White Paper, so now that we know what exactly is in it, we can optimise the product to meet the specific requirements.”

Asia
  In her conversation with Trafficology, Majela also highlighted Campeón’s Supercasi brand in Japan. When asked how the brand was performing and had been performing, Majela said: “The Japanese market started out similar to Brazil’s in terms of structure, where everybody wanted to go and thought they would do well, but it’s a very hard market to understand. You need to have very specific localised offers and strategy, but it’s going well for us and we are hoping to expand to other parts of Asia, too.
  Natalia Hurina, Head of Affiliates at V.Partners, also spoke of her company’s ambition in the Asian market, stating: "In Malaysia, Vietnam and Thailand we are targeting more, but also in Japan – but it is difficult.”

After the show
  With the stands being taken down, freebies littering the floor and empty bottles found everywhere, iGB Live ended with business done and new opportunities for all that attended. We will, in fact, only have one more year of the Amsterdam show, with iGB Live due to move to London from 2025 onwards.
  The talking points across the floor were many and varied, but Chile was a country mentioned from stand 1A to 22Z (not official stand numbering). A market that has caught the attention of the industry; it has money, it has the appetite and it is now becoming one of LatAm’s major markets, with more investment coming. Brazil is a waking giant, with the whole industry now readying to enter the country and welcome the advent of the regulated Brazil – almost everybody that spoke to Trafficology about the LatAm market highlighted the country.
  It is the growing impact of the LatAm market that became the biggest talking point of iGB Live, with affiliates also looking at the Japanese space with enthusiasm – which, of course, is starting a gambling journey that will see MGM build Japan’s first casino resort in Osaka. The show will return in 2024, with new questions to answer and deals done – will Chile remain a focus? Where will Brazil be then? Of coures, only time will tell.