"BiS' partnership with SiGMA brought many international exhibitors that were still far away from us"

BiS SiGMA Americas 2023 will be held at the Transamerica Expo Center in Sao Paulo from June 14-18. This year, with the special spice of being the first edition after the partnership with Grupo SiGMA, Alessandro Valente, Co-Founder of the event, talked to Yogonet about the BiS and other important issues for the industry, such as the regulation of gambling in Brazil.

What are your expectations for this new edition of the Brazil iGaming Summit? What do you think will be the most important topics to be discussed?

There is still a lot of expectation around the regulation issue that, although late, should come out at some point, and we will finally have a legal, regulated scenario that will contribute to taxes and formal jobs. As well as this issue still being in focus, we will have a lot of content related to topics such as marketing, affiliation, influencers, and all the commercial part.

The event will have, among other novelties, two stages. What else can you tell us about the activities and the guests that will be there?

This year the big novelty is the launch of BetExpo which, for the first time, will offer the final public, such as bettors, the opportunity to be in contact with the betting companies they like the most. We will also have many more activities, especially due to the fantastic partnership with the SiGMA team, which brings to our operation a number of new features. We hope they will be very well received by our colleagues in the market. 

It will be the first edition together with the SiGMA Group, which recently acquired Jericho Event, organizer of the BiS. What can you tell us about this sort of "restart" of such an important event in the region, now with a new actor participating in it?

After the merger with SiGMA, which may turn out to be an acquisition, many good things have happened. But not everything is easy; they bring years of experience, and we, despite being very young in the sector, have an experienced team that also has its baggage. The trend is certainly positive; we will have some important lessons to learn, both for us from Brazil and for them from Europe. For them, it will be the first time they hold an event of this magnitude in the country. The teams are more and more aligned with the management's objectives. I believe that already at the next event we will have many more points to improve.

Eman Pulis, from SiGMA, together with Carlos Cardama and Alessandro Valente, responsible for BiS.

What do you think it can add to an event like BiS to have a partner like SiGMA?

Before we had the confirmation that SiGMA would be with us, we had about 15,000m2 of space in Transamerica Expo Center reserved, being then two pavilions, but with their arrival, they brought many international exhibitors that were still far away from us. In addition, they have years of knowledge, a vast experience in organizing events for thousands of people, and this is also something very positive and important for our growth. We will also receive more speakers and panelists who will come through the invitation made by SiGMA, which will bring to the event a series of special panels, external VIP mini-events, and so on. 

Brazil is precisely in the spotlight of the gaming industry today due to the imminent state regulation. For both the organization and the companies participating in the BiS, how important is it, and how do you think it will affect the future of the sector?

Regulation is necessary, but the way it is proposed is ridiculous. I don't see many well-known operators implementing the path that the government thinks is best. To consider only one of the verticals of the industry as something to be regulated while leaving out others just as important, if not more, such as casino games and, more recently, instant lottery or scratch-off games, is, in my opinion, very superficial. But perhaps it is a first step, and as long as the sector is not regulated, we can hope that they will wait for the legalization of the industry as a whole so that when they regulate, they will have done a comprehensive service.

Leaving the event itself, what can you tell us about SuperAfiliados, a company of which you are the founder? Are there any plans for the company at a regional level?

SuperAfiliados in this next semester should open the doors to new affiliates, leaving a little aside the issue of only working with affiliates in a personalized model but also leaving some affiliates more nourished with ads and preconfigured campaigns in its new platform. In addition, we will launch courses and more tutorials to strengthen our affiliates and have more satisfied customers.