Superbet files Brazil’s second betting application

Operators applying within the initial 90-day window set by the ministry of finance’s secretariat of prizes and bets (SPA) in May will take priority in the licensing process and are guaranteed to secure a licence by the expected market launch date of 1 January 2025.

Superbet entered the market in 2023 when it appointed ex-Betano Brazil country manager Alexandre Fonseca to the helm of its local operations.

It subsequently signed an agreement to implement Bragg Gaming Group’s igaming aggregation platform into its Brazil offering and penned sponsorships with three local football clubs.

Fonseca expressed lofty plans to grow the brand’s presence in what was then a market dominated by local operators. He told Games Magazine Brazil in September 2023 he expected Superbet to gain reasonable market share, but that it was important to have local knowledge to succeed.

Is this the start of the applications rush?

Normative Ordinance 827’s publication in the Official Diary of the Union on 21 May triggered the opening of the country’s online betting licensing window. Kaizen submitted their application days after the launch but, almost 50 days later, the register is still looking bare with just two operators listed.

But industry stakeholders are expecting operators to flood in once final regulations are published later this month. Hugo Baungartner, CCO of Aposta Ganha, believes the publication of the latest ordinance will provide clarity around certain games, encouraging operators to submit their applications.

“They’re making sure labs that are approved for the Brazilian market know exactly how to certify the games included in the ordinance,” Baungartner told iGB earlier this month.

Despite slow beginnings, Udo Seckelmann, head of gambling & crypto at Bichara e Motta Advogados, predicts up to 60 operators will file by the end of August.