As the future of the US sweepstakes market continues to be shrouded in uncertainty, Brazil may provide a new home for the sector, according to Alea’s Founder, Alexandre Tomic.
Speaking at SBC Summit Lisbon, Tomic suggested that with the right regulation, Brazil could “become one of the biggest sweepstakes markets in the world”.
“We are looking at what the regulator is going to pull out of his pocket for this market, and I hope it’s going to be for the best,” said Tomic, who noted that Alea, like many others, initially saw a drop off in business as Brazil opened its doors to the regulated gambling industry on 1 January 2025.
“[But] I do believe in sweepstakes in Brazil a lot, I think it’s a market where sweepstakes are going to take off.”
On the other hand, the future is looking less bright for Alea’s operations in the US, as more states move to ban sweepstakes gaming. Tomic admitted that it appears inevitable that the US market is “about to close”.
“We have invested a lot there, but we’re not going to risk a court case in the US,” said Tomic. “At some point, if sweepstakes is a no-go, we’re going to leave sweepstakes in the US and we’re going to reposition ourselves.”
As he looked to the future, Tomic noted the potential of betting on events, widely known as prediction markets. However, he cautioned that any potential investment would need to come with long-term guarantees, given that these markets are a departure from Alea’s current offerings, which are mostly centred on slot games and live casino titles.
“The integration could take six months to one year, and during that timeframe of integration, the regulatory landscape may change in the US. So we need to be sure that we’re going for a long run before we go into this new line of products,” he concluded.
