Exclusive interview with Mateo Lenoble, Sales Director, Sportradar

"It is important that the legislation in Peru is fair for all stakeholders involved"

Sportradar has been working in Peru for five years with renowned companies such as Te Apuesto and Inkabet, so it has got to know the market in depth.
2019-07-12
Reading time 2:42 min
During the latest edition of PGS, Lenoble shared his views on the regulation of online gambling in the country, provided details on the company’s presence in LatAm and the fight against match-fixing.

In an exclusive interview with Yogonet at Peru Gaming Show (PGS), Mateo Lenoble, Sales Director at Sportradar, like many of his colleagues, shared his views on the regulation of online gambling in Peru. "Although there is not a universal regulatory framework that fits every single jurisdiction, I believe that in Peru’s case, online gambling licenses should be unlimited. International companies should be required to partner with local operators to prevent them from taking over the entire market and to favor the local offering," Lenoble said.

Although it is not considered an illegal practice in the eyes of the law, online gambling has not been regulated in Peru yet. Which provisions should legislation include to protect those companies already operating in this jurisdiction?

It is important that the legislation is fair for all stakeholders involved, allowing them all the chance to leverage from the opportunities. This includes both international operators, who already hold a lot of capital, and local operators who are just starting out. From our experience in other markets, collaboration is key. We have also witnessed the popularity of online gaming in other markets and know of its ability to engage a variety of users. Local operators who use the services of Betradar, for example, to get ahead in this space can really gain margin. Whilst online has a lot of potential for the future, it’s still early days – at the moment we need to work with the legislation in place. In Peru currently, customers trust retail gaming, and there are still a lot of opportunities that can be made in this space, again using Betradar’s services, which can be used for online and retail.

How many companies do you believe could be part of this regulated market?

In Colombia, a very big market, there are 18 operators. But the situation there is complicated in the sense that a few major companies dominate most of it. In Peru, the scenario is different because the market shares are more evenly divided, making it way more appealing, so I believe there could be a number of licenses close to 18 or even more.

What is the current state of the land-based segment as compared to online gambling in emerging markets?

Land-based gaming is very important in Latin America and Peru is no exception: most bets come from this segment. This is explained by habits as well as a very limited access to the Internet in certain regions. However, little by little, online gambling is becoming stronger in the rest of the world, and eventually, the same will occur here.

In Latin America, three jurisdictions are already drawing up enforcement rules for their respective online gambling laws: Brazil; and, in Argentina, Buenos Aires City and Buenos Aires Province. What do you think will happen in this respect next year?

I believe that both in the Province and the City of Buenos Aires, online gambling operations will begin by the end of the year. As for Brazil, it will likely take a little longer. Gambling regulations have been discussed for a long time now, and last year, a lot of progress was made in this regard. So I believe next year, there will be more definitions on this matter.

What measures is Sportradar able to take to prevent match-fixing in a non-regulated market?

As part of our data production unit Quality Management System, we have dedicated internal teams who check the quality of all fixtures. If there are any suspicions we won’t use or cover those games. Additionally, we not only provide betting services, our parent company, Sportradar, also provides Integrity Services. The aim of that vertical is to work with sports leagues and clubs worldwide to fight against the threat of match-fixing across sports, using our world-leading monitoring and investigation that is backed by the best technology, our quality data, and human expertise.

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