Every newly regulated gambling market has the same first year. The established operators form a committee. The committee books a meeting. The meeting gets rescheduled, because three of the seven stakeholders are at a conference, which is fine, completely fine, this is all fine. Meanwhile, a brand nobody has ever heard of has licensed up, signed local affiliates, and is already emailing players, while a competitor is still waiting on legal to review the market-entry brief.
This is the part where we talk about Brazil because we have to
Brazil regulated its online betting market in early 2025 and the first year reshaped the igaming landscape across Latin America. Before regulation, users were transferring around R$33 billion ($6.6 billion) to international betting sites annually. Once the legal market launched, the industry generated roughly R$37 billion ($7.4 billion) in gross gaming revenue in year one alone.
KTO was among the first 14 companies to receive a full five-year license when the market opened. CEO Andreas Bardun described how they got there. “From the start, our goal was clear: to be among the first licensed operators in Brazil. While others claimed the title simply by applying, we understood the journey was far from over until full approval was secured.”
Most marketing teams are brought into the new-market conversation after the licensing decision has already been made. By that point, a competitor that started earlier has already been talking to local affiliates, building brand recognition with local sports fans, and figuring out what actually matters to players in that country. The gap between those two starting points does not close easily.
The Betano case is the one worth studying
Betano was the first operator to apply for a Brazilian license, back in May 2024, and arrived at regulation day with brand-recognition advantages its competitors spent months trying to close. Deputy CEO Aris Dimarakis described the approach. “Betano’s success in Brazil comes from a deeply localized strategy that reflects Brazilian culture, sports passion and community values.”
Betano sponsored the Copa América over the summer of 2024, the top-flight Brazilian league, and a number of individual clubs, building recognition with football fans before a single regulated bet was legally placed. By September 2024, the company held a 23% share of Brazil’s betting market, according to research from H2 Gambling Capital.
We keep treating localization like it’s the part where you add the accent — like you can build the whole thing in English, then just tilt it slightly and call it Brazilian. Whatever cringe meme is your favorite, just imagine adding it right here.
H2 Gambling Capital’s managing director noted that Betano could cover the annual cost of its Flamengo sponsorship with just 13 days of operational revenue. For context, Betano’s predecessor in that deal needed 72 days. The difference between those two numbers is what a well-executed early-market strategy looks like when it matures.
Betano eventually became so embedded in Brazilian football culture that it launched a campaign poking fun at its own omnipresence, developed by Wieden+Kennedy’s São Paulo office, with the message “Everyone Already Knows.” The campaign leaned into public reactions rather than ignoring them, turning brand saturation into brand wit. A betting brand making fun of how unavoidable it has become is either the most confident marketing decision of the year or evidence that someone in São Paulo is having a genuinely wonderful time at work. Probably both and good for them.
What this looks like beyond Brazil
Latin America’s online betting market is projected to surpass $10 billion in gross gaming revenue within the next few years, driven by Brazil, Mexico, Colombia, and Peru. Peru, Colombia, Chile, and Argentina are moving through their own regulatory processes on their own timelines, each with a sports culture and payment landscape that is completely specific to that country.
Bringing in one local consultant to review copy written by a team who has never been to the market is not a localization strategy. It is the marketing version of asking someone to translate your diary into a language they learned on Duolingo. And everyone can tell.
Analysts have flagged a consistent disconnect between international leadership and local-market understanding when operators attempt to move existing teams into Brazil, rather than hire people who know the market from the inside. Colombia learned this. Argentina is learning it. The markets opening after them will learn it too, and the tuition keeps getting more expensive as competition increases.
The marketing work that matters in a newly regulated market happens before most people think the campaign has started. Affiliate relationships built under pressure cost more and deliver less than the ones built when nobody was in a hurry yet. Sponsorships signed before a market formally opens are a fraction of the price of the same deal 12 months later. Local hires given real authority over campaign decisions make fundamentally different work than local hires asked to translate someone else’s vision.
