Part 3: Mobile and more
Part 5: Lottery expansion
and beyond
While sports betting is
the immediate topic on
the minds of most in
the igaming community,
change may be on the
cards in the lottery and
gaming verticals as well
20
As is ever the case when it comes
to a newly regulating market of
whatever stripe, the position of the
ex-monopoly lottery operator within
the new structure is a matter of
some debate.
More immediately, however,
the issue of the tender for instant
lottery provision in Brazil should
be decided shortly after this report
goes to print by public auction. The
latest news on the so-called Lotex
games is that Caixa – which will
charge commission from the private
entity which finally wins the bid –
BRAZIL The regulated opportunity in Latam’s largest market
has lowered that commission rate
to between 1.10-1.70% of total sales
from 4.34-5.66%.
The Caixa climbdown would
appear to bode well for sports
betting if it means that Caixa shows
a similar regard for allowing a free
market to develop without the dead
hand of lottery interference.
It should also entice the likes of
IGT to consider doing more than
just express an interest in the Lotex
concession. The gaming giant’s
chief executive Marco Sala said
on the company’s 4Q18 earnings
call that Brazil represented a
“compelling opportunity”, and that
IGT is “assessing seriously within
the parameters we use to evaluate
any business”.
A bigger change might also
be in the offing. Maia at FYMSA
Advogados says that once the
instants concession is put into
private hands, an IPO might be
slated for Caixa itself in 2020.
“This will be very meaningful
because it will be the end of a long-
term monopoly of the government
in gambling, and I believe this
will change the Brazilian society’s
perception of private gambling
operators,” he adds.
However, as De Muro points out, it
is by no means a given that this will
play out as planned given the hoops
that are yet to be jumped through
with regard to Lotex. “It may take
months, if not years, to see how the