Gustavo Hiroshi, Zenith: “We need to show that we are strong in Brazil. Brazil is a great market”
Shows & conferences - 12 October, 2026
During SBC Summit Lisbon 2026, Focus Gaming News sat down with Gustavo Hiroshi, Business Development Manager at Zenith, to discuss the sudden turn in the Brazilian market, how the industry is responding, and what it takes to succeed when entering new territories.
Hiroshi, who has spent two years building Zenith’s business in Brazil, said the first year was “great”, with the market “improving a lot”. The second, however, began with what he described as a new provisional measure from the president of Brazil, issued days before the event, under which “everyone who bought a licence just loses it”. The news, he said, “shook the market completely”, and some Brazilian delegates stayed away from SBC despite having paid for everything. He added that it sends a poor signal to foreign investors.
Hiroshi said he remains “very positive”, suggesting the uncertainty may last until the elections finish, and hoped it would last “four months”. He acknowledged, though, that some companies are already “letting go” and can probably only hold on “for one or two months”. Rather than retreating, the industry is rallying. Groups and meetings with partners and competitors alike are already under way because, in his words, “we need to fight back” and show that the sector is strong in Brazil.
His central argument was that prohibition is the wrong approach. “People are going to bet,” he said. “It should not be treated as a problem. We just need to regulate properly.” Building a sound framework takes time, and he argued that a few years are needed to adapt to what makes sense for Brazil. Ending licences “after two years” is, in his view, “not the best way to do it”.
Asked what causes operators to fail in a territory beyond black swan events, Hiroshi pointed to a lack of audience understanding. Brazil is big enough to have “different ways to consume the product”, so operators can start with a basic MVP but must learn their audience’s preferences and differentiate in a market crowded with sportsbooks and bookmakers.
On Zenith’s own approach, he said the company is “trying to understand the market properly” and is acquiring a few companies to create a product design for LatAm. He noted that Zenith is seen in Brazil as “a very Asian company”, with a stand largely in Mandarin, but said the team is “very polite” in its approach, seeks local references and tries “its best to fit in with the Latin community”.
On expansion, Hiroshi cautioned against entering many markets at once. “The idea is not to grow as a concept,” he said. Companies should identify the markets that suit them best “right now”, focus on them, “enter properly” and take the time to understand each one before moving forward.