The CEO of CAIXA Loterias S.A, Lucíola Aor Vasconcelos, announced that the “bet” the bank plans to operate from 2025 will also accept bets at lottery houses in addition to the virtual platform. Caixa is one of the 108 companies that have submitted authorization requests to the government.
The announcement was made during the presentation of the state-owned company's balance sheet for the second quarter of this year.
Despite expanding the operation of its “bet” in lottery houses, Lucíola explains that the bets of the current games in force will not be cannibalized. “Today, the lottery audience is over 45 years old and the global bet audience is under 35 years old. So that's what we're looking for, to bring in an audience we don't have”, she said.
In mid-June, the executive had already commented on the bank's intention to operate in the “bets” market and to expand the types of games offered at lottery houses, such as “scratch cards”.
“Today, we have 13,300 physical points, but [Caixa's bet] will not focus on this. We will act like any other bet market, we will be compatible and competitive”, she pointed out.
According to Lucíola, the bank also intends to expand its engagement with the female audience, who, she says, does not participate in the games as much as she would like.
Caixa is one of the 108 companies that have submitted authorization requests to the government to operate in the regulated online betting market, which will block the operation of companies outside the regulation starting January 1, 2025.
The executive also stated that the range of options for the bank’s “bet” could be expanded beyond sports betting, such as electronic games: “Everything that is possible is being studied. It doesn't mean that we will act. But we haven't closed off to anything”.
“Definitely, the bank will be one of the main players in this segment. Caixa understands that Lotteries have room to grow”, said the bank president, Carlos Vieira.
If the operation is realized, the expectation is that the bank will see a surge in revenue from games.
Last year, Caixa's lotteries earned R$ 23.4 billion, of which R$ 9.2 billion (39.2% of the total) were allocated to federal government programs in areas such as social security, sports, culture, public safety, education, and health.
According to the Ministry of Finance, 108 companies submitted authorization requests within the preferred deadline that ended on Tuesday night (20).
There were 113 requests for authorization to operate “bets” sites in Brazil, and it is estimated that about 220 could be created, as each company can offer up to three brands depending on each commercial option.
If all authorizations comply with the rules established in the regulation, the Ministry of Finance estimates that it could collect around R$ 3.4 billion from the grants just this year.
The requests will be analyzed within a period of 180 days, but other companies may request authorization outside the preferred deadline until the end of the year.
Source: GMB
