Amram Vita, Chief Commercial Officer & Managing Director of LatAm at FIRST – Best in Sports, chats to SBC News about sports betting markets across Latin America, and how to properly localise a sportsbook for a Brazilian audience.

How do you build a Brazil-first sportsbook product from the ground up?

You cannot build a Brazil-first product by starting in Europe and translating it later. Our approach with FIRST was very clear – we built it from local to global, not the other way around.

That means the product is shaped by Brazilian tastes, habits, and consumption patterns. From native Brazilian-Portuguese UX to how players navigate live football, from the way combos and bet builders are structured to how fast cash out and in-play markets react – everything is based on real local behaviour. That is why when an operator plugs into FIRST, they do not just get technology, they get a sportsbook that already feels aligned with their audience.

How do you ensure that your sportsbook is compliant with the local regulations in Brazil?

Regulation in Brazil is not something we bolt on after the fact – it is a design constraint from day one. In practical terms, that means strong reporting, full audit trails on all key events, configurable controls for staking and payouts, and tools that help operators manage KYC, AML and monitoring in line with local rules. 

Our platform is GLI-33 certified, ISO audited and our controls are mapped to the technical requirements set by the Prizes and Betting Secretariat of the Ministry of Finance (Secretaria de Prêmios e Apostas do Ministério da Fazenda), so operators can give evidence of compliance without rebuilding their own reporting layer.

Our role is to make sure the product supports a regulated operation rather than creating more work. We work closely with our partners’ compliance and legal teams, but the foundation is already there. The system is built to operate in regulated, high scrutiny environments.

What responsible gambling measures do you implement in Brazil that fit those compliance requirements but fit with local consumer preferences?

We look at responsible gambling as part of the user journey, not as a separate module. In Brazil we support the full set of tools operators expect – limits, self-exclusion, deposit controls, reality checks and clear access to account history.

At the same time, we are very focused on how these tools appear to the player. Messaging is in clear Brazilian-Portuguese, flows are designed for mobile and the touch points are integrated in a way that feels supportive rather than disruptive. The goal is simple – help operators protect players and meet regulatory expectations while maintaining a trusted, modern experience.

What are the major consumer preferences among players in Brazil? 

Football is at the centre, especially local clubs, regional derbies and anything connected to the national team. Brazilians love football, with combos and markets that create drama across 90 minutes, not only towards the final whistle.

There is strong interest in basketball, e-soccer and tennis, plus a growing appetite for fast, 24/7 content that fills the gaps between big matches. Another important trend is cross-selling – many players arrive from the casino and then stay for sports. The common thread is clear – live, mobile and engaging. If a product is slow or generic, players move on very quickly.

What plans do you have ahead of the World Cup this summer, the first since the regulated market launched?

The World Cup will be a stress test and an opportunity at the same time, especially with the extended format this year. Our focus with partners is on two fronts – making sure they can absorb the spikes in traffic comfortably and helping them convert one-off World Cup bettors into long-term sports players.

On the product side that means stability at peak, but also tournament specific journeys, better personalisation, and smart use of our gamification tools, so players keep coming back between matchdays and after the tournament. We see the World Cup as a starting point for many new customers, not a one-month event, and we are building with that in mind.

What is it about FIRST’s technology that stands out from the crowd?

FIRST is the most integrated sportsbook in the space, and it is built for tier one standards. We combine 99.99% uptime, GLI-33 certification and ISO audited operations with a product that was designed around Brazilian and LatAm realities.

On top of that core engine, we have launched structural innovations such as SportOS, which lets operators choose between independent, hybrid trading models on the same stack – NEXLVL as an always-on content layer that supports continuous engagement, and Omnichannel Loyalty, which ties online and retail together so players’ status and rewards travel with them. It is one infrastructure that gives operators a lot of freedom to define their strategy.

What are the biggest pain points that you help operators solve?

The first is speed – getting live and migrating off legacy systems in realistic timelines. With FIRST, partners can move in weeks rather than long, uncertain projects and start with a product already tuned to Brazil.

The second is differentiation in a regulated, highly competitive market. Many brands run on similar templates. We give operators a platform where they can control what matters to them – from market priorities to trading models and engagement tools – without sacrificing stability.

The third is long-term engagement. Acquisition costs are high and bonuses are not enough. Our job is to help operators build a sportsbook that players enjoy using – through UX, local coverage, gamification and omnichannel journeys – so they stay because of the experience, not just short-term incentives.