Brazil and Latin America are on the minds of most online gaming industry executives right now, and rightly so. Operators, suppliers and consultants have been busy working on deals and helping shape regulations in the continent's biggest markets for many years. As Brazil prepares for regulated online sports betting and casinos, many of those long-term projects are now coming to fruition.

The region is, and has been, growing for some time, and while Brazil is the largest and most significant market, countries such as Peru and Chile are active and new deals are also being closed in important jurisdictions such as Mexico and Colombia.

However, for all the talk of promise and growth, it is also important to remember that all markets in the region, especially Brazil as the largest of them, have been active for many years and have several major operators who dominate market share and hope to maintain that share once regulation comes into effect. Furthermore, unregulated operators will not stop operating and concentrating on the market once regulation is introduced.

Therefore, just like the regulated markets in Europe, competition will come from all directions. Success factors. This means that factors such as brand recognition, reputation, reliability and word of mouth will play a key role in influencing where players decide to open accounts.

This will be even more pertinent in the early days of regulation, when the topic will receive a lot of media attention. It will be covered extensively on mainstream television channels, while newspapers and mass market consumers talk about sports betting and exchange tips and anecdotes about odds and betting. Reputation and recommendations are the factors that most influence users when choosing an online bookmaker, while faster payouts (unsurprisingly) top the list of improvements punters would like to see from operators.

Clear focus. When it comes to companies supplying the industry, most openly state that Latin America, and Brazil in particular, are important focus areas for them. Giant neighbours. For US operators, the fact that the US market has become an effective duopoly and the top four betting brands control around 85% of the market means that looking south for new markets to develop is an obvious step. In markets outside of Latin America, “many sports bettors are motivated to bet because they want to make money or bet on the teams they support.”

In the US, the strong heritage of fantasy sports means there is a greater interest in individual athletes, and this has created significant interest in player-focused prop bets and matched bets. This history has allowed sports betting to quickly take root in the broader US fan experience and has “given rise to the concept of the recreational bettor who wagers in-game to truly enhance their personal enjoyment.” As Brazil’s sports betting market continues to evolve with regulation, “we will see behavioural trends emerge among sports bettors in the region” and, with expansion slowing in the US, “operators are putting more emphasis on product improvements as well as improving the user experience to generate more revenue from existing customers.”

These personalisation and gamification features will play a key role in Brazil, “already occurring for some time” across the board. “Gaining user data to offer highly targeted bets to players based on their history and clientele levels allows operators to maximise lifetime values, segment the player base and implement robust personalisation features.” As operators, suppliers and affiliates continue to jostle for position in Brazil and other Latin American countries, competition levels will be intense.

But amid all the sound and fury of a Brazilian market that is forecast to generate revenues of $9.7 billion by 2028, the key will be attention to detail and the provision of deep and broad offerings to attract and retain players.