São Paulo (SP) officially became the iGaming capital of Latin America this Tuesday (8). The opening ceremony of BiS SiGMA Americas was attended by illustrious guests such as Regis Dudena (Prizes and Betting Secretary), Alessandro Valente and Carlos Cardama (Brazilian iGaming Summit), Eman Pulis (SiGMA Group), as well as former driver Rubens Barrichello.
The opening included the traditional welcome speech and the ribbon cutting with the participation of the authorities. Afterwards, some of the names present also took part in panels that are decisive for the future of the Brazilian gaming market.
It is worth mentioning that this first day of the event also brought together affiliates, influencers, renowned tipsters and figures known to the general public, such as five-time world champions Júnior and Luizão, presenter Milton Neves, singer and actor MC Cabelinho, YouTuber Luva de Pedreiro, among others.
Check out the highlights from the first day of BiS SiGMA Americas
The path towards inter-ministerial cooperation in regulation
One of the highlights was the seminar on inter-ministerial cooperation for the advancement of regulation, with the participation of Regis Dudena, Giovanni Rocco Neto (National Secretary of Sports Betting and Economic Development of Sports – Ministry of Sports), Luiz Felipe Maia (Founder of the firm MAIA YOSHIYASU Advogados) and Martin Lycka (specialist in Gambling Regulation and Responsible Gaming).
The experts discussed the importance of collaboration between different ministries to build effective regulation aligned with the needs of the betting market in Brazil. They also analyzed the challenges and opportunities of this joint effort, highlighting the positive impacts on transparency, legal certainty and sustainable growth of the sector.
Legalization of land-based casinos
Another relevant topic discussed at the event was the possible legalization of land-based casinos in Brazil. The debate included Magnho José (Editor and President of BNLData and IJL), Carlos Cardama (Co-founder of BiS), Alex Pariente (VP of Hard Rock) and Senator Irajá, rapporteur of the casino bill in Congress.
Federal deputy Newton Cardoso Jr. also participated in the conference and reinforced the need to demystify this issue so that “casinos and gambling become tools for social transformation, protecting those in need, respecting the law above all else and bringing investment and job creation to Brazil.”
Rubens Barrichello at BiS SiGMA Americas
One of Brazil’s biggest names in Formula 1, Rubens Barrichello recently became Non-Executive Director (NED) of SOFTSWISS. He shared part of his experience with the audience in a seminar entitled “Success depends on who you race with”.
“For a long time, when people talked about games on the Internet, people would stop following you. But today, we know that there are ways to communicate. I care about responsible gaming, and I convey this in the way I communicate,” he said.
He also revealed his interest in sports betting. “I like betting, I loved betting on golf, it was something that fascinated me when I lived outside Brazil.”
Barrichello also spoke about his partnership with SOFTSWISS. “The world of iGaming has proven to be so competitive that it has made me seek to learn more and find out more about this market. Look at this fair, it is huge and there are many possibilities within this universe. I feel honored to be part of this SOFTSWISS project,” he concluded.
Importance of responsible gaming
As Rubens Barrichello himself mentioned, responsible gaming is a crucial part of Brazilian regulation and was discussed in depth in a roundtable discussion focused on conscious communication campaigns, moderated by Flávio Figueiredo (Founder and CEO of iGaming Brazil). The participants were Fellipe Fraga (EstrelaBet), Antonio Forjaz (Sportingbet), Patrícia Prates (Superbet) and Felipe Costa Nadalini (Optimove).
According to Patrícia Prates, “in this market, we are talking about people. We have to bring behavioral and quantitative attributes. In the case of responsible gaming, you can see within your platform whether there has been an increase in contact with your support or account deletion, for example. All of these are indicators of the effectiveness of a campaign aimed at the sector, especially when talking about responsible gaming, for example.”
Furthermore, Figueiredo considered the means to find a balance between alerting and engaging the public. Antônio Forjaz stressed that “we must comply with the basics of complying with the rules of the regulation. Transmitting trust to the end user is essential. We cannot forget which channel we want to use to speak and to whom. Social networks, CRM, among others, we need to know how to speak to the end customer, responsibly”.
Fellipe Fraga highlighted the importance of a regionalized approach. “The strategies involve something that has a national concept. Different actions to communicate with people in a language they will understand. Whether it is a specific action, or a targeted sponsorship, such as in state competitions or state teams.”
“We recently ran a campaign for an action in Minas Gerais and the slogan was written in the same way as it is pronounced in the Minas Gerais accent. So it’s about bringing this national aspect, but speaking the specific language of each location,” he continued.
Furthermore, Fraga stated that the regulation came about as a result of the industry’s own struggle. “In dialogue with regulators and throughout the process. We always want to act responsibly. It brings more credibility, less fraud and also helps the mental health of our bases, and this is essential for the success of our work.”
For Felipe Costa Nadalini, the role of the regulator in Brazil is to listen to all sides. “We are still very young in this process, but this role is fundamental for any market.”
Gambling and lotteries in municipalities
The role of municipalities in the gaming and lottery scenario was also considered, since it is currently in vogue. The conversation brought together Leandro Pamplona (Founding Partner – BKP Advogados Associados), Paulo José Galli (CEO of SP Parcerias – City Hall of São Paulo), Edson Kikuchi (Senior Consultant – 2S Consultoria) and André Português (Former Mayor – City Hall of Miguel Pereira).
Paulo José Galli reported on the structuring of the São Paulo city lottery. “We are in the final stages of modeling the project and the public consultation notice is expected to be published in July of this year. From a legal standpoint, the City Hall understands that it has this right, so much so that we have already approved the project in the City Council.”
“We are calm about all the legal issues surrounding this process. We understand that São Paulo’s entry will lead to a definitive decision on this issue of municipal lotteries in Brazil,” Galli continued.
Meanwhile, Edson Kikuchi pointed out that gambling and lotteries exist in all Brazilian cities. “We have to put an end to this corporatism that only the federal or state government can exercise. This revenue comes from a legal operation within the municipality. What we need to do is analyze and come up with a model that regulates the municipal sphere,” he concluded.
 officially became the iGaming capital of Latin America this Tuesday (8), with the opening of BiS SiGMA Americas.){kind=link}