The COVID pandemic has accelerated the digital transformations of many operators around the world and Latin America in particular, Sportnco CEO Hervé Schlosser said during a webinar hosted by Gaming and Media News.
Discussing how European betting solutions providers had handled the pandemic and how they were working to launch igaming products with their partners in Latin America, all the panellists agreed that the health crisis had led to a major shift to online channels which would remain even after things have returned to normality.
When looking at working in Latin America, Schlosser said it was vital to offer strong localised set of products, but within that mix also include well-known international items. The other panelists included Dan Stone, head of B2B marketing at Pronet Gaming, Andreas Neubauer, CEO of Mohio Gaming and Luc Lebleu, sales director at Skywind Group.
All agreed that localisation was key to being successful in Latin America for B2B companies and with many land-based companies wanting to refocus their corporate strategies towards online, Schlosser said Sportnco put the emphasis on localised sports betting and casino products.
Localisation and flexibility
“Our clients choose the games providers they want and we connect them. It’s interesting because success will depend on having some international and well-recognised products, but also on strong localised products that are relevant to Columbia, Peru and other markets in the region.
“Being able to offer and combine these many different providers brings flexibility to our partners’ growth and development,” he added.
The emphasis on mobile will continue in Latin America, the region has good infrastructure and smartphone penetration levels are constantly rising. This consumer trend, combined with growing regulation of key countries like Brazil, Columbia or Chile meant two things.
“The regulated world is getting bigger, but the tool we’re using (mobile phone) is getting smaller. In the past the focus was on providing more bets and casino games; now it’s very much about giving the right product to players so they can access them straight away,” Schlosser said. “It’s about the user experience, machine learning” and having the best technology that will meet users’ needs immediately.
Dan Stone said he expected the consumer changes that had happened during the pandemic such as the rise of eSports, virtual sports betting and online slots to remain after the health crisis has abated.
“It’s encouraged payers to look around and see what’s out there, so the operators that have the full set of products have done well. When things are ‘back to normal’, people might revert to what they used to do, but if someone has discovered something they like they’re likely to keep doing it.”
Enabling the Latam digital shift
Latin America has a strong land-based heritage and part of the role of B2B providers was educating them on how igaming worked with regard to bonusing and CRM, Schlosser added.
The online sector interacts with “affiliates, bonuses and marketing teams on a daily basis and part of the educational work a company like Sportnco does is assisting its Latin American partners with those aspects of their digital transformation,” he said.
Sportnco is already active in Columbia and is set to launch in neighbouring markets in the near future.
The group offers a full-service turnkey betting and gaming solution from its B2B offices in Madrid and Barcelona, Spain and Toulouse, France. The group provides additional services such as compliance, marketing, CRM and fraud management services to enable its Latin American partners to effect their digital shift that has been brought about by the COVID health crisis.
For more information, email: contact@sportnco.com
