While developments within Brazil have certainly captured the industry’s attention, what effect could this have on the wider Latin American landscape? How could this influence those seeking rapid expansion across a number of neighbouring territories?
In the culminating part of the latest iGaming Expert roundtable, Frederico Caputi, Sales Manager at Altenar, Toni Karapetrov, Head of Corporate Communications at Habanero, and Seth Waterworth, Senior Account Manager at Push Gaming, Henrique De Simoni, Country Manager – LatAm at 3 Oaks Gaming, and Jeevan Jeyaratnam, Chief Betting Officer at Abelson Sports, take centre stage.
iGaming Expert: Brazil’s sheer size and economic influence make it a regional powerhouse. How can smaller Latin American markets leverage Brazil’s regulatory success to develop their own frameworks and attract international iGaming operators?
Frederico Caputi: Smaller markets can benefit greatly by aligning their frameworks with Brazil’s model, particularly in areas such as compliance, data integrity, and player protection. Brazil’s size means many international operators will already be invested in building infrastructure, teams, and compliance systems tailored to its standards.
If neighbouring countries adopt similar regulatory principles, they make themselves more accessible to these same operators looking to expand. This reduces entry friction and increases the likelihood of attracting serious investment. By mirroring elements of Brazil’s framework while maintaining local nuance, smaller nations can position themselves as logical next steps in an operator’s regional growth strategy, ultimately accelerating their own market development.
Toni Karapetrov: Smaller markets can view Brazil as a regulatory blueprint, adopting best practices while tailoring them to local needs. By benchmarking against Brazil’s compliance mechanisms, tax structures, and licensing processes, these countries can avoid costly trial-and-error processes.
Furthermore, Brazil has helped push iGaming further into an accepted form of entertainment across the region, rather than a slightly taboo activity, both from a consumer trust and investor confidence perspective.
Smaller markets can ride this wave of legitimacy, positioning themselves as agile, cost-effective alternatives that benefit from Brazil’s groundwork while offering localised value propositions to international brands.
Seth Waterworth: Smaller LatAm markets should use Brazil as a working case study and see how it evolves and adapts over the next 12 to 24 months. By doing this, they can use these insights to build a sustainable, safe and beneficial iGaming ecosystem for their market. Utilising taxation, local presence requirements and eligibility criteria to benefit investment and safe gambling.
Henrique De Simoni: Smaller markets don’t need to reinvent the wheel or overcomplicate things, as our Head of Account Management often says. Brazil is providing a clear blueprint: transparent rules, strong tech oversight, and a defined path for international operators to enter the market compliantly. It’s not necessarily easy, but it is understandable.
These markets can adopt the most effective elements, such as data systems, player protection measures, or even branding strategies (take .bet.br, for example), and tailor them to their own scale. What’s more, by aligning with the ‘Brazilian standard’, they’ll likely become more attractive to major international operators looking to expand across the region, such as Betano, Bet365, Novibet, and Betsson.
Jeevan Jeyaratnam: Brazil’s size is relative. To use Paraguay as the example, operators will still be willing to pay a fee for licenses and while that fee is likely to be smaller than in Brazil, Paraguay’s financial needs are smaller too.
More important than size in determining how successful any channelisation efforts can be is the regulatory framework. It’s critical to include as many of the most popular verticals, games and betting options as possible. Brazil has, belatedly, realised esports need to be included to stop black market drift.
Another element to consider is tax rates, both extracted from the operator and the individual bettor. Brazil has controversially introduced a tax rate for winning punters that, in my opinion, is at cross purposes to the channelisation efforts.
Reproducing the best aspects from a number of regulatory frameworks is the most sensible choice for any territory looking to modernise its approach to legal gambling.
iGX: What are the biggest challenges and opportunities that Brazil’s new regulatory landscape presents for iGaming operators, and how might these factors influence the strategies of companies looking to expand across the wider Latin American region?
TK: One of the biggest opportunities lies in Brazil’s immense player base and cultural openness to sports and gaming. Operators can tap into a passionate, mobile-first audience with high engagement potential. The diverse population also encourages innovation in game mechanics and localised content, something we have emphasise in our own approach.
However, the challenges are equally significant. Compliance costs are high, and the competitive landscape is rapidly saturating. For operators, navigating the taxation system and marketing restrictions requires local insight and flexible tech stacks.
These dynamics will likely influence broader LatAm strategies, companies may adopt a ‘Brazil-first’ expansion model, using their presence there as a launchpad for regional growth, while simultaneously investing in local partnerships to ensure cultural relevance and regulatory compliance.
SW: The significant opportunity in the new market is to build brand loyalty and attract players. Providers can set the tone when it comes to user experience, and localised offerings will attract a following and establish trust. There is also the opportunity to form strong partnerships with local sports teams, media groups and influencers.
This can then further develop as the economy continues to grow in the years to come. With high licensing fees and tax implications, it also imposes limitations on who may enter the market, allowing companies already active to grow more quickly.
With regulation being relatively new in Brazil, it is still evolving, and iGaming operators need to be constantly vigilant to stay compliant. There are also much tighter restrictions on advertising and marketing, specifying who, where, and when you can share your messaging. This is where partnerships with local companies play a significant role in amplifying a casino’s brand.
HDS: The biggest opportunity is the potential to scale. We’re talking about a country with over 200 million people, a passionate sports, internet, and entertainment culture, and a public that already embraces betting. As I mentioned before, being part of the first wave of licensed operators in Brazil gives you brand authority and real credibility, a chance to firmly establish your brand in this market. Just imagine capturing even 5% to 7% of that market share.
As for the challenges, the entry bar is high: a R$30 million licence, strict compliance standards, and the requirement for a Brazilian entity. On top of that, there’s a heavy and complex tax system, which doesn’t make it easy for operators without significant backing. Not every company will be prepared for that.
But those who are? They’ll likely lead the conversation and use Brazil as a springboard to expand across Latin America.
To summarise: the market is open, but it’s not a free-for-all. The winners will be those who move quickly, understand the landscape, and have a clear, strategic vision.
JJ: The biggest challenge for any regulating territory is to ensure that regulations are robust and sensible enough to ensure that black market spending is greatly reduced. Brazil has taken steps to close off as many payment gateways as possible, only allowing the Central Bank’s incredibly successful instant payment system, Pix, to be used.
Brazil is rather unique in that the Pix system, established only in 2020, is now used by 80% of Brazilian citizens, and so the regulators can, without a detrimental fiscal impact, limit payment methods to this transparent and highly traceable system; most other countries simply won’t have this option.
Brazil’s use of a separate domain (bet.br), exclusive to regulated operators, is another solid looking decision. It allows punters to immediately assess whether the site they are visiting is legal, something that hasn’t always been clear even in the tightly regulated USA.
While Pix is a success story, Brazil also boasts some of the highest rates of crypto ownership in the world. There are plenty of off-shore crypto-based betting and gaming operations that will be targeting Brazilian players, ensuring that better experiences aren’t available offshore is vital to the health of the regulated market.
FC: The biggest opportunity is obvious — sheer scale and brand exposure in a huge, sports-loving population. But the challenges are real: local partnerships, complex tax structures, adapting product and UX to Brazilian players, and staying ahead on compliance.
On the upside, companies that succeed in Brazil will gain valuable insights, operational muscle, and regional credibility. This experience can form the basis for broader Latin American expansion. In effect, Brazil becomes a proving ground — those who adapt and thrive there will be well-positioned to scale elsewhere with confidence.
