KTO Aims for 10% Market Share in Brazil’s Licensed Betting Market
In an interview, KTO’s founder and CEO, Andreas Bardun, stated the company’s ambition to capture a 10% share of Brazil’s licensed betting market. He expressed confidence that the group’s hard work and localized strategy will pay off.
KTO has been operating in Brazil since 2019, initially launching in a single state. Prolific expansion and various regional and national sports sponsorships have helped the company establish itself in the market.
“I believe that any company should aim to have at least 10% market share in Brazil in the long term, and we intend to be market leaders,” Bardun explained. “To be considered one of the main brands, I think you need to have at least 10%.”
“We know we are probably far from that at the moment, but if we consider what we have done in Brazil proportionally, since we came from very humble origins with very small investments in the company and are able to compete with the big players, we are very confident that we can achieve it.”
KTO submitted its betting license application in July, within the initial 90-day priority window that closed on August 20th. This means KTO will be among the first to have its license approved and issued by the expected date of January 1, 2025.
Brazil is expected to be an extremely competitive market, with giants like Betano, Bet365, and Betfair joining KTO on the list of companies that have applied for a betting license.
A study from March estimated that sports betting turnover could reach $34 billion by 2028, with a potential gross domestic profit of $2.8 billion.
KTO Exits Peru and Chile to Focus on Brazil
In July, a survey on brand recognition and market share among betting brands in Brazil positioned KTO as the third most well-known and trusted brand for 9.1% of readers who responded to the survey.
The survey analyzed operators’ social media followers, website traffic, and keyword relevance on Google to determine its results. The data did not take into account real account users and active players of the brands surveyed.
KTO was only slightly behind Betfair (9.5%) and Betano (9.4%) in the survey.
To reaffirm its focus on Brazil before the launch of its licensed betting operations, KTO withdrew from Chile and Peru earlier this year, although Bardun said he might reconsider launching a regionally licensed product in Peru in 2025.
Bardun believes that the progress the company has made in Brazil already puts KTO in a good position to move forward, especially with the recent growth of online casinos.
“[iGaming] is growing, and I think it will continue to grow because the Brazilian market is still taking its first steps at the moment,” Bardun stated.
“The market is still learning about betting, and we can see the growth of online casinos in the last two years. Betting is now turning more to the casino, so I think there is much more room to grow and mature.”
Hard Work Pays Off in Brazil
Bardun believes that the company’s humble origins and clear localization strategy mean that it is well-positioned to gain market share.
“What I am most proud of is that we are surpassing everyone with our work,” Bardun said about the group’s determination.
“It’s a matter of surpassing everyone with work because if you can’t spend more than them, you need to be smarter and work better. And I think we have been able to do that so far.”
Delays to Regulation Could Hinder Larger Operators?
Brazil’s journey towards a legal market has certainly not been simple, and the final regulations were published just three weeks before the August 20th deadline for priority applications.
In Bardun’s opinion, the 90-day window was not sufficient and should have been “at least 180 days” and preferably six months.
Earlier this year, more than 130 companies expressed interest in the market. However, with only a few hours left before the deadline, it seems unlikely that this number will be reached. The latest government data showed that fewer than 100 applications had been submitted so far.
“There is a huge list of things that need to be done before January 1,” Bardun stated. “And we are lucky because we are only operating in Brazil at the moment, so we can put all our resources into it, but I can imagine the complications for large organizations that have huge roadmaps planned in advance.”
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