Marcos Oliveira: Everyone is excited about the Brazilian opportunity

Ahead of the hotly-anticipated first edition of Betting on Sports America later this month, we caught up with Marcos Oliveira, Head of Business Development at Clever Advertising Group, who talks us through the affiliate opportunity that’s emerging in the freshly-legalised Brazilian gambling market.
Affiverse: For those who are unaware, can you begin by outlining the current legal situation for sports betting in Brazil?
Marcos Oliveira: In December 2018, then Brazilian President Michel Temer signed his countries sports betting legislation into law and now Brazil has up to two years to create the regulations so operators can start the licencing process. Some experts say that operators could start applying to the licence before 2020 Brasileirão season.
AI: How big is the affiliate opportunity in Brazil? And how does the affiliate scene in Brazil differ to that of European markets?
MO: With a country with an estimate of 210 million population and a fantastic love for sports, everyone is really excited to be able to operate in this market. Affiliates are already starting to build SEO ranking websites and position themselves as the first acquisition option to new regulated operators. Like most European countries, Brazil’s main sport is football and it has an enormous fan base of lower divisions making Brazil one of the biggest markets, since content is almost unlimited.
AI: How knowledgeable are Brazilian players when it comes to affiliate marketing? Do affiliates have a role to play in terms of educating the players about legal operators?
MO: Affiliate marketing is something that has existed for a long time in Brazil with great success. We expect that established affiliates will be the first to educate all players to invest only in legal operators and to help to block any kind of advertising from non-licensed operators. If all affiliates do their jobs correctly, everyone can help drive the players to trustworthy operators where the player its always protected by local law.
AI: As competition amongst operators increases, how can they attract loyal customers, rather than just bonus hunters?
MO: I believe that before having the best product you must have the customer service, and I still believe that customer service is the number one driver of player loyalty. No one has ever switched operators if they have been treated like their business is the biggest priority of said operator.
Find out more about Betting on Sports America and the Affiverse-run Affiliate Marketing Masterclass here.