Press Releases

Parimatch: Consumers want stories, not spreadsheets

Published

6 years ago

March 9, 2020

Sergey Berezhnoy, Parimatch¹s Chief Product Officer.

Parimatch’s Chief Product Officer Sergey Berezhnoy spoke at ICE London 2020 about how the operator plans to evolve the traditional sports betting experience with a focus not just on technology, but on storytelling. With a history in the video gaming industry, Sergey can see many narrative-building concepts that would translate nicely to the betting sector, although he believes the main overlap – esports – still has a few mountains to climb.

Following a strong 12 months in its home markets, Parimatch attended ICE London 2020 with a clear vision in mind for the future of its sports betting offer.

The international operator has grown its market share with bold marketing campaigns and a strong product backed by great tech, but the main focus for Parimatch’s Chief Product Officer Sergey Berezhnoy over the next year is to research, develop and evolve sports betting’s current customer journey. Many of the innovations at ICE provide the backbone of that journey, providing several payment methods, hundreds of ways to bet, and thousands of events and markets to bet on, with other exciting developments such as VR and AI further bolstering to the industry’s toolbox in recent years. For players, the customer journey is smoother than ever before, but for Sergey, that’s not enough. His background is in the video gaming industry, and he believes that to tap into the widest possible market, the sports betting sector has to develop a story around the act of betting that is as engaging and rewarding as current popular mobile games.

“I use one word, and it’s narrative,” said Sergey. “I joined this sector from the video gaming industry, and there the focus is not on waiting for the end result, but providing as much entertainment as possible on the way to it.

Unfortunately, sports betting is currently the opposite; you come, you bet, you leave. There is no story, no great focus on the clubs involved, and often there are very few relevant events to bet on. Players who are engaged with the betting culture might bet on anything, but new and casual players need a story to bring them in. Look at Snapchat, Instagram and Tik Tok, they only show short stories, but it’s enough to get consumers engaged.”

In fact, the immediacy of sports betting is something else Sergey wants to move forward. While the rise of in-play betting has helped, many results can take between a few hours or a few days to come through depending when bets are placed, so Berezhnoy intends to make sports betting on Parimatch something players can jump into and be rewarded whenever they choose.

“In betting, the distance between betting and reward can be very high, whereas in video games the award is more achievable. We are trying to shorten that distance, but not as short as casino games,” he said. “In our research, we have taken a lot from casual gaming. If you are riding the subway or tube, everybody plays casual games or goes on social media. The big question is, why don’t they bet? It’s about a customer journey, but many sports betting sites still look like excel spreadsheets. Instagram has changed the way we consume photos, it’s our ambition to change the way people bet on sports.”

Berezhnoy added that this will involve asking players human-centric questions on pre-selected content, providing a personal touch to short, targeted stories for players to bet through. Like in video games, they won’t be faced with a thousand choices, but with a few highly engaging ones based around content they already enjoy, whether that be through live, fantasy or virtual sports – or even esports. This is another aspect of gaming that Berezhnoy has a lot of experience in, however he still believes there’s a few challenges ahead before the rapidly rising pastime becomes a key vertical for the sports betting sectors.

“Games publishers are in control of esports and they are not interested in the regulations that are needed to elevate the level of trust required for bookmakers,” he explained. “Publishers want more players, and tighter regulations can put up barriers to that. With a few exceptions, they also don’t give access to their data feed, which makes it very difficult to trade. Sports betting operators are interested in the most popular games with the biggest events, but those publishers don’t need to include sports betting into their model to be successful, and these are major roadblocks for its expansion in the industry.”

Sergey hopes that this will change over the next decade, but in the meantime, he is looking forward to weaving the storytelling ability of video games into all of Parimatch’s sports betting offers.

“At the end of the day, most of us prefer to be told stories than to scour over spreadsheets, and that’s what I want to offer to our players,” he concluded.

Up Next

Token Swap, Trading And Royalty Payments

Don't Miss

Spearhead Studios launches games on ORYX Gaming platform

content-aggregation

SetantaBET picks LuckyStreak for live dealer and casino aggregation deal

Published

51 minutes ago

July 15, 2026

Wladimir P.

setantabet-picks-luckystreak-for-live-dealer-and-casino-aggregation-deal

LuckyStreak, the live casino and content aggregation provider, has agreed a partnership with SetantaBET, the gaming and betting arm of leading sports media and entertainment business Setanta Sports.

The partnership gives the broadcaster-backed operator access to LuckyStreak’s live Roulette, Blackjack and Baccarat, plus more than 6,000 casino games from over 60 providers through a single integration.

The companies said the rollout is planned to launch prior to the 2026 World Cup and follows SetantaBET’s launch in Georgia, as the operator looks to scale using the wider Setanta Sports ecosystem.

Ady Totah, CEO and Co-founder of LuckyStreak, said: “SetantaBET is a new and fast-growing operator backed by the strength, reach and reputation of the Setanta brand. Their ambitions for the business are clear, and through LuckyConnect and our live dealer portfolio, we’re giving their players access to a diverse portfolio of thousands of world-class games through a single integration, while equipping their team with the content, flexibility and scalability needed to support growth across multiple markets.

Combined with our operational expertise and industry experience, we believe this creates a strong foundation for a successful long-term partnership. We’re proud that SetantaBET chose LuckyStreak as their launch content partner, and we look forward to helping the business realise its ambitions in the years ahead.”

Tamar Badashvili, CEO at SetantaBET, added: “We are excited to partner with LuckyStreak and further strengthen SetantaBET’s casino offering. This collaboration allows us to expand our game portfolio with content from leading providers and deliver even more entertainment and choice to our players.”

The post SetantaBET picks LuckyStreak for live dealer and casino aggregation deal appeared first on EE Gaming | Global iGaming & Tech Intelligence Hub.

Abrajogo

SCCG Management Launches Dedicated SCCG Brazil Division with Local Partner Thomas Carvalhaes

Published

51 minutes ago

July 15, 2026

GamingAmericas.com

sccg-management-launches-dedicated-sccg-brazil-division-with-local-partner-thomas-carvalhaes

New entity positions SCCG to serve international operators, investors, and technology providers entering Latin America’s largest regulated gaming market.

SCCG Management announces the formation of SCCG Brazil, a dedicated advisory entity built to serve the Brazilian gaming and iGaming market. The new division is led jointly by SCCG founder Stephen A. Crystal and Thomas Carvalhaes, a veteran of Brazil’s gaming ecosystem, who joins as Partner and co-manager of the operation.

The launch follows SCCG’s May 2026 establishment of its broader Latin American division and Miami office, which anchored the firm’s expanded presence across Spanish-speaking markets. Brazil, with its distinct regulatory framework, Portuguese-language market, and scale, has always warranted a dedicated approach. SCCG Brazil is that approach.

Why Brazil, why now

Brazil’s newly regulated gaming market is now the largest in Latin America and one of the fastest-growing in the world. In its first year under Law No. 14,790/2023, the regulated sector generated an estimated BRL 37 billion in gross gaming revenue, with 79 licensed operators serving approximately 25 million active bettors. The government collected close to BRL 10 billion in tax revenue, far exceeding initial projections. Market analysts project the sector to surpass USD 9 billion in annual revenue by 2033.

This is not a new market for SCCG. The firm has maintained a presence in Florianopolis, Brazil for nearly two decades, supporting clients across sports betting, iGaming technology, and gaming infrastructure. What has changed is the regulatory clarity. With the Secretariat of Prizes and Bets (SPA) now fully operational under the Ministry of Finance and a permanent licensing framework in place, Brazil has moved from a high-potential gray market to a structured, investable, and compliance-driven environment.

“We have been working in Brazil longer than most people realize. The difference now is that the market has caught up to where we always believed it would go. With Thomas on the ground and our global network behind him, SCCG Brazil is built to move at the speed this market demands.”

— Stephen A. Crystal, Founder and CEO, SCCG Management

Leadership on the ground: Thomas Carvalhaes

Thomas Carvalhaes is a senior executive, board advisor, and one of the most influential strategists behind the consolidation of the sports betting and iGaming landscape in Latin America. As the CEO and Founder of TC iGaming Advisors and a founding advisory board member for Next.io LATAM, Thomas brings over 15 years of continuous leadership to the sector, specializing in market entry strategies, operational excellence, and complex regulatory compliance for global Tier-1 operators.

Throughout his career, he has steered multi-million dollar operations and commercial pipelines through evolving jurisdictional frameworks, having served as Country Manager and CEO for Stake in Brazil, alongside key leadership and strategic roles at Betway, LeoVegas, Hero Gaming, and Salsa-Betmotion. His expertise merges sharp regulatory intelligence with localized, high-performance business development, including the structuring and integration of innovative fintech solutions and instant localized payment frameworks such as the Pix ecosystem.

Thomas is a founding member of ABRAJOGO (Brazilian Gaming Association), playing an active role in driving industry-wide ethical standards and operational sustainability. Trilingual and fluent in English, Portuguese, and Spanish, he is a globally recognized industry voice who frequently features as a keynote speaker and panel moderator at the world’s premier gaming summits, including the SBC Summit, EGR, and SiGMA.

What SCCG Brazil does

SCCG Brazil will operate across SCCG Management’s established advisory workstreams, tailored for the Brazilian context:

Strategic Advisory: Regulatory navigation, market entry strategy, and M&A advisory for operators and investors targeting Brazil’s licensed market.

Capital Introductions: Connecting Brazilian gaming companies with international investors, and international operators with Brazilian capital and strategic partners.

Commercial Partnerships: Facilitating technology supplier, affiliate, and white-label distribution agreements between SCCG’s global client portfolio and Brazilian operators.

International Expansion: Supporting Brazilian operators looking to expand into other regulated markets across Latin America, Europe, and North America.

“Brazil’s regulated market has moved from potential to proof, generating billions in its first year under a fully structured licensing framework. International operators and investors need a partner who has navigated this market from the inside, through the regulatory buildout, the payment infrastructure, and the commercial realities on the ground. SCCG Brazil is that partner.”

— Thomas Carvalhaes, Partner, SCCG Brazil

The formation of SCCG Brazil reflects three converging forces. First, regulatory maturity: Brazil’s licensing regime is permanent, the SPA is actively enforcing compliance, and over 25,000 unlicensed sites have been blocked. Second, market scale: with a population exceeding 200 million and mobile penetration driving nearly all betting activity, Brazil offers the largest addressable audience in the region. Third, international demand: SCCG’s global client portfolio includes dozens of technology providers, platform operators, and investors actively seeking structured pathways into the Brazilian market.

SCCG Brazil operates as a division of SCCG Management, the gaming industry’s global advisory firm. With more than 30 years of experience, over 120 active client-partners worldwide, and offices spanning North America, Latin America, Europe, Africa, and Asia, SCCG provides end-to-end advisory services across iGaming, sports betting, sweepstakes, tribal gaming, and casino technology.

For partnership inquiries or to schedule a meeting, contact SCCG Management at sccgmanagement.com or reach Stephen Crystal directly via WhatsApp at +1 (725) 502-5033.

Explore SCCG Brazil’s full workstream breakdown, market data, and newsletter sign-up at sccgmanagement.com/sccg-brazil.

The post SCCG Management Launches Dedicated SCCG Brazil Division with Local Partner Thomas Carvalhaes appeared first on Americas iGaming & Sports Betting News.

Awards

Esportes Gaming Brasil takes two ClienteSA Awards 2026 wins; exec named Personality of the Year

Published

3 hours ago

July 15, 2026

Wladimir P.

esportes-gaming-brasil-takes-two-clientesa-awards-2026-wins;-exec-named-personality-of-the-year

Esportes Gaming Brasil (EGB), the group behind the Esportes da Sorte, Onabet and Lottu brands, has won Gold and Silver at the ClienteSA Awards 2026, held during the ClienteSA X-Summit 2026.

EGB said it won Gold in the Customer Success category for its case study, “Customer Success through Responsible Gaming and Intelligent Monitoring”, and Silver in the Customer Service Operations category for its case study, “From Startup to Maturity”.

Maria Neves, Director of Customer Experience, Customer Support and Reputation Channels, was also named Personality of the Year, an award that recognises leaders in customer experience management in Brazil. “This recognition validates the work of many people, built through listening, team development and a commitment to delivering the best possible customer experience. In a constantly evolving market, putting the customer at the centre of every decision is fundamental to the way we operate,” Neves said.

EGB executives also took part in the summit programme. Neves moderated a panel titled “Responsible Gaming as Part of the Customer Experience Journey,” featuring Carol Luna, Head of Compliance at the company, and Ricardo Magri, co-founder of the Brazilian Support Company for Compulsive Gambling (EBAC), which EGB described as a partner organisation.

During the session, the panellists discussed Brazil’s regulated betting market and how customer service, compliance and responsible gaming processes are being positioned as part of a safer customer journey. EGB highlighted initiatives including specialist support teams trained to identify signs of customer vulnerability, self-exclusion tools, platform usage limits and referral processes to specialist partner organisations.

The post Esportes Gaming Brasil takes two ClienteSA Awards 2026 wins; exec named Personality of the Year appeared first on EE Gaming | Global iGaming & Tech Intelligence Hub.