1. Taking a broad view, what’s your take on the current online sports betting environment across the continent? What do you predict we’ll see over the next 12 months in terms of digital evolution?
I believe we’ll continue to see the type of growth that was fueled by the pandemic over the past couple of years. It’s important to understand how the post-COVID landscape has influenced and reshaped the sports and sports betting industries.
Back in March 2020, the sporting world came to a halt. Since then, many things have changed, and the pandemic pushed the entire industry to prioritize everything related to health and safety.
For example, one significant change that will continue to support digital growth is the move to an online-first approach for businesses. We’re seeing more and more land-based companies transitioning into the online space. I believe we’ll also see increased M&A activity, which will depend heavily on who best understands the local markets in order to deliver superior products to customers.
I also believe we’ll see more regulatory activity throughout LATAM, with some countries likely to follow the lead of Colombia and Coljuegos. That means things will move quickly, and we’ll need to remain flexible to keep pace with the industry's growth and evolving requirements.
2. Looking at the key markets of Argentina, Colombia, and Mexico – how much do sports betting trends differ across the continent? What sports and verticals are proving most popular aside from soccer?
When we talk about LATAM as a whole, everyone agrees that football (soccer) is the number one sport for bettors. The second-most popular sport, however, tends to vary by country. Take Mexico for instance—it has a strong U.S. sports influence, so NBA, MLB, and NFL are extremely popular there. In other countries, that second spot might be taken by tennis or basketball.
While LATAM users are known for their passion for sports, Colombia stands out in terms of betting multiples, including betting on favorites.
When it comes to Esports, Virtual Sports, or other verticals like Casino, the industry continues to evolve as the world embraces new forms of entertainment.
3. How much interest are we seeing in the big four U.S. sports and European football leagues?
With the major European football leagues (La Liga, Premier League, Champions League, World Cup, etc.), it's clear these are major drivers of turnover in LATAM. At the same time, we also see the big American sports—NFL, NBA, NHL, and MLB—performing similarly, especially with basketball where the NBA is the primary league.
This level of interest in the big four isn’t going away—these leagues are essential for the global industry. While local leagues remain important to individual countries or regions, the big U.S. and European leagues serve as a shared foundation across LATAM.
4. Looking to Esports, which is arguably one of LATAM’s fastest-growing verticals, what’s your view on its surge in popularity? Do the demographics differ from those who bet on virtual sports?
Esports is definitely here to stay. Its popularity surged during the pandemic, especially with e-Football (FIFA).
I believe Esports is still growing. Even with the increased attention, there’s room for more development. For example, Madden is one of the most bet-on titles in North America, but there’s still no formal Madden Esports scene. So, I believe we’ll see a lot of progress and learning—both for bettors and bookmakers—especially in areas like risk management. We’re witnessing and contributing to the early stages of Esports, and I’m confident it will secure a permanent share of betting turnover as it becomes more established globally.
As for the demographics, Esports bettors aren’t necessarily the same as those betting on virtuals. Virtuals are RNG-based games, while Esports involve real competitions between real people. Esports bettors tend to be more tech-savvy, more accustomed to making purchases online, and arguably more loyal to their favorite games. This makes them a valuable addition to any customer database and helps strengthen it overall.
5. Last but not least, the big prediction that all our readers want to know – what odds would you give on Brazil becoming a regulated market by this time next year?
We recently saw a significant step toward regulation in Brazil. I would say—and hope—that by this time next year, Brazil will be a regulated market. That’s something Altenar is eagerly anticipating, as it will bring new challenges and require adaptations to our software that may not have been needed in any other market so far.
