Alessandro Fried, CEO of BtoBet, has underlined the importance of adopting a player-centric approach and took centre stage at SIGMA’s Latin American workshop.

Regulation was one of the workshop’s highlights. Ingrid Alvarado Lopez of Coljuegos has detailed the regulatory process and underlined the importance for any market to be strongly regulated. Alvarado Lopez commented on the success of the legislative framework that Colombia has adopted.

Fried indicated the importance for operators to have good knowledge about the stratification of the local market. He stated that the dominance of brick and mortar shops has initially proved to be quite a challenge for operators to expand into the online channels with operators not having adequate knowledge on how to shift their activities to the digital mediums. Fried also stated that it is fundamental for operators to put their players at the centre of their business model.

“While broad similarities exist between betting markets across the world, if you’re going to make it big in LATAM you have to know the differences, whether they be practical, such as language and culture, or subtler, such as gambling preferences and domestic approaches,” Fried said.

“It is useless trying to expand into the LatAm market by copying a formula that has proved to be successful in other markets, such as Europe. Each market is driven by its own set of unique elements. Each and every aspect of the user experience – be it the payment gateways, the sports market offered, the online casino games provided – must reflect the local scenario and preferences. Even the technology itself that platform providers such as BtoBet grant to operators must be adapted to the local scenario, taking into consideration various factors such as the hardware readily available on the market, and the internet and smartphone penetration.”

Patagonia Entertainment has signed a content deal with online casino provider edict egaming. As per the deal, the German casino provider will integrate its entire portfolio onto Patagonia’s Gaming Aggregation Platform (GAP).

Patagonia’s GAP is designed for mobile first and converges the land-based casino experience seamlessly. The platform is stable, scalable and customisable to meet all operators’ needs, and fully certifiable for several regulated markets across the Latin American market.

“edict Gaming’s portfolio is packed with outstanding casino content as they distribute the well known Merkur slots and we welcome these titles with open arms. We’re looking forward to enhancing our platform offering and growing our respective businesses,” Victor Arias, Global Business Development Manager of Patagonia Entertainment said.

“With the integration of the edict game solution, Patagonia and its casinos are the first provider to get the full portfolio of Merkur slots for the Latin American markets. This deal helps edict to reach new players and new demographics,” Dominic-Daniel Lienard, CEO of edicts egaming said.