With the possibility of making purchases and payments online, travel to lottery units is reduced and, consequently, the demand for online solutions for placing bets is growing.

However, the lack of regulation of digital services aimed at the lottery segment makes it difficult for companies that offer such solutions to work. In already regulated markets, such as the United States, the penetration of lotteries becomes more significant, causing positive impacts on the economy.

In Brazil, revenue from the lottery market represents 0.24% of GDP, while in the United States this figure reaches 0.45%. In Spain, penetration is almost three times higher, reaching the level of 0.72% of gross domestic product.

It is worth remembering that a large part of the lottery collection is transferred to the Federal Government, which invests the money in the areas of security, health, sports and culture, thus bringing benefits to the entire Brazilian population.

Lotto.com

One of the companies that exemplify the functioning of a developed market and bring examples to the segment in Brazil is Lotto.com. The North American group works under the “courrier” model, or convenience, already well known here.

Among the companies that have convenience as an operating strategy, one of the best known is iFood. This business model is based on a service fee paid by the consumer to the intermediary. In this case, iFood receives a certain amount to make the connection between customer and restaurant.

Another of the Brazilian courier companies is T4F, which operates in the entertainment sector. One of the aspects of the company’s work is the intermediation between consumers and producers through the sale of tickets online.

Taking the same strategy to the lottery market, Lotto.com receives a fee to intermediate the bets, connecting the consumer to the lottery operator, which changes according to the State in question.

In Brazil, state lotteries are still being implemented, since the decision of the Federal Supreme Court (STF) to withdraw from the Union the exclusivity in the operation of lottery games came out only in September 2021.

Despite this, there are already companies operating in a model similar to that of Lotto.com, but, in this case, only intermediating bets in Caixa Econômica Federal lotteries. The main one is Sorte Online, which has been operating in the lottery services segment since 2003.

As with Lotto.com, those who play for Lucky Online pay a fee to be able to play any lottery at Caixa directly over the internet, without having to go to a lottery unit.

The company’s flagship is group games, popularly known as “bolões”. These bets are previously officially registered in Caixa’s system and made available on the platform to bettors, simplifying the process of placing group bets, which reduce costs for the consumer.

See below some of the most popular courier companies in Brazil and the area of ​​operation of each of them compared to Sorte Online.

Marcio Malta, president of Sorte Online, sees the digital presence of lotteries as a natural path, which will bring benefits to the market and the player. “The digitization of services is certainly a path of no return and will allow a sustainable development of the sector, where the private sector can invest to expand the market”, he said.

In order to be in line with the best practices of companies operating in regulated markets, Sorte Online joined the same group as Lotto.com in 2018, in a strategic partnership.

“The difference is that in the United States we have an evolved and regulated market, and this has been our job here in Brazil: to import good practices, in partnership with operators and regulators,” said Malta.

The diagram below shows the difference between courier services in the Brazilian and North American markets for digital lotteries.

AIDIGLOT

The search for regulation in Brazil, however, is still not close to being achieved. In order to unify the voice of companies in the sector and facilitate dialogue with Caixa and government entities, Sorte Online became a founding member of AIDIGLOT (Association of Digital Intermediators of Lottery Games).

It is estimated that, currently, there are more than 20 Brazilian companies that offer similar services, of intermediation of bets in lotteries, and that can associate with AIDIGLOT to reinforce the search for regulation.

Among the association’s first actions, a visit to Brasília has already been carried out, where representatives participated in hearings at the Chamber of Deputies, the Federal Senate and the Ministry of Economy.

The next steps involve dialogue with Caixa to seek joint solutions on issues such as publishing associates’ apps in app stores, advertising on platforms such as Google, digital betting payment options and electronic sales solutions, such as self-service totems and the websites and apps themselves.

In addition, AIDIGLOT is also implementing a process called the Registration Game Safety Check, which works as an audit to ensure that all bets marketed on the sites have been officially registered in the Caixa system, thus mitigating risks of fraud to the bettor.

Through these actions and the strength of several companies in the sector, AIDIGLOT aims to ensure that the Brazilian market is increasingly innovative, causing a positive impact on the economy through the collection of lotteries and the generation of new jobs throughout Brazil.