NeoGames will provide its player account management (PAM) platform, sportsbook solution and online games to BIG Brazil as part of the deal. It will also offer additional operational products and services.
The news comes exactly one month after BIG Brazil confirmed that it was seeking accreditation with the Rio de Janeiro State Lottery, Loterj. BIG Brazil International Games president André Feldman had visited Loterj president Hazenclever Lopes Cançado in February, and inquired about receiving accreditation to provide lottery in Rio de Janeiro.
Referring to the new deal with NeoGames, Feldman said that the supplier met BIG Brazil’s ambitions to enter Brazil’s new regulated market.
“We have major ambitions to become the go-to brand for players in Brazil once the regulated market opens up and, to achieve this, we need to team up with the right partner,” Feldman explained.
“After exploring supplier options, it was clear that we need a partner that holds the same level of commitment as us and from day one we saw that NeoGames shares our vision of building a significant market presence and how to best achieve that.”
Newly regulated market
Tsachi Maimon, president and head of igaming at NeoGames, added that NeoGames is ready to support BIG Brazil’s venture into the Brazilian market.
“Over the past two years we have become closely acquainted with the BIG Brazil team and have learned firsthand of their ambitious plans for the Brazilian market,” he said. “We are excited to have been selected as their supplier and to have the privilege of supporting them in their journey to become the leading operator in the Brazilian market.”
Brazil’s online gaming and sports betting market was ratified by president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in December, following months of twists, turns and delays over Bill 3,626. The bill’s progression intensified in the second half of the year as it appeared in front of various legislative bodies, such as Brazil’s chamber of deputies, the Economic Affairs Commission and the country’s senate.
The bill’s journey saw the initial 18% tax rate – the subject of much backlash – lowered to 12%. An attempt to remove igaming from the bill altogether was a brief success, before being overturned later in December.
Last week Brazil’s ministry of finance published official plans to implement fixed-odds betting. The roll-out will take place in four stages, each concerned with a certain aspect of regulation, and is expected to end in July. The plans also saw the establishment of a regulator, the Regulatory Policy of the Prizes and Betting Secretariat (SPA).