Playtech CEO Mor Weizer announced on Thursday that the gaming supplier anticipates its launch in Brazil early next year, despite the ongoing political turbulence affecting their agreement with the state-owned bank Caixa. In 2025, Playtech entered into a partnership aimed at developing a platform for Caixa’s betting operations.
Weizer previously indicated that Caixa’s tender presents one of the most significant opportunities for Playtech in the years to come. However, due to Caixa’s status as a government entity and the scrutiny surrounding the betting industry in Brazil, the launch has faced political pressures that have postponed its start date multiple times, even after Caixa paid the BRL30 million ($5.9 million) licensing fee.
This past April, under the influence of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, Caixa deferred its market introduction until at least 2027. With a general election approaching next month, the uncertainties have further delayed Playtech’s entry into Brazil’s regulated gaming market, although Weizer refrained from naming Caixa directly during the analysts' call following Playtech’s Q2 earnings.
“I’ll be very, very open and straightforward about it,” Weizer expressed. “There were certain concerns that because it is an election year, and obviously, gaming is a political issue or there were references by politicians throughout the elections about gambling. Given the sensitivity around that, we were kindly asked to collaborate with the government and with the prospective customer that we are in discussions with to wait until the elections.”
Nonetheless, Weizer remains optimistic, stating, “I will say that the expectations remain the same to enter into an agreement and launch sometime at the beginning of next year.”
In discussing the impact of the Brazilian market, Playtech’s CFO Chris McGinnis told analysts on Thursday that the deal could further enhance the company’s medium-term prospects. He clarified that the Brazil opportunity had not been specifically incorporated into Playtech’s previous guidance provided after its full-year results in March last year. Though the possibility was acknowledged, it wasn’t clearly included in their projections.
“At that point, we sort of knew of the opportunity, but it wasn’t specifically factored into the guidance necessarily,” McGinnis said. “But I think when we set the guidance, we saw there are ambitious targets, and there were not necessarily specific contributors in terms of how you’re going to get there other than looking at the overall opportunities across the group.” He indicated that updates to their targets could likely be addressed during the full-year results, suggesting this could positively influence the company’s performance and market expectations moving forward.
In a separate issue relating to legal matters, the dispute between Evolution and Playtech is ongoing. Playtech had engaged intelligence firm Black Cube back in 2020 to probe into Evolution’s operations, leading to allegations of the latter supplying games in restricted and sanctioned regions. Evolution has since taken legal action against Black Cube and is holding Playtech liable in a defamation case stemming from this investigation.
This week, Spectrum Gaming released a report commissioned by Evolution, to which Playtech responded by pointing out numerous claims corroborated by Black Cube’s findings. Asked about the future of this litigation, Weizer chose not to elaborate, stating, “It’s very interesting. But as I’m sure you can understand, we are not going to answer any questions on litigation. We are under legal privilege and confidentiality rules, and we can’t simply take questions on the legal situation. We said what we needed to say following the Spectrum report being released earlier this week. So, that’s all I can say at this point in time. I have a lot to say, but I can’t.”
In its financial performance, Playtech reported a 10% year-on-year revenue increase in H1, totaling €425.1 million, largely driven by what the company called "exceptional growth" in its B2B segment in North America. Revenue from the U.S. and Canada soared 161% from the previous year, reaching €56.9 million. The adjusted EBITDA for the company also increased by 77% to €162.5 million, with the B2B segment contributing €128.1 million of that figure.
