Streaming giant lands in gambling soup
One of the world’s most-watched live YouTube channels is drawing scrutiny from regulators after heavily promoting betting to young people during World Cup broadcasts.Brazil’s CazéTV
One of the world’s most-watched live YouTube channels is drawing scrutiny from regulators after heavily promoting betting to young people during World Cup broadcasts.Brazil’s CazéTV has attracted blue-chip sponsors and even viewers abroad hunting for VPN workarounds, since it’s the only YouTube channel in the world where fans can watch all 104 matches for free. It’s breaking YouTube audience records, challenging traditional broadcasters and reshaping how millions of young Brazilians watch live sports.Its on-air crew has also delivered a running commentary on odds and wagers during the World Cup, igniting a controversy that’s culminating in new government restrictions on to be introduced Friday.Banter about gambling has become familiar to viewers in Europe and the US as betting businesses become key sponsors of sports broadcasts. One Washington Post report this year measured an average of one betting ad every four minutes on televised US games. Critics say the blitz is sullying sports, pointing to some high-profile arrests of US athletes accused of manipulating statistics to influence betting markets.132309038To Brazilians, the constant patter about betting on a youth-focused channel has also hit a nerve. Sports betting was legalized in Brazil in 2018, but it really took off in the past decade with the advent of fintech companies offering credit cards to people who had never had them before. A digital payment system created by the central bank, called Pix, also inadvertently eased the flow of online betting.President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva began imposing new rules in 2023 to try to rein in the industry, which the central bank and retailers have blamed for siphoning away spending that used to go to economic growth.Against that backdrop, CazéTV’s broadcasts of football’s signature event have become a hot topic in a nation crazy for the sport.
The controversy over gambling threatens to overshadow what was supposed to be the 4-year-old channel’s big moment, where it was to showcase its irreverent, youthful take on sports commentary.Also read | Mbappe makes history, becomes fastest player to reach 20 FIFA World Cup goals“Betting companies are entering the market with enthusiasm and a desire to be a part of the world of sports and entertainment,” said Eduardo Halpern, a professor at Escola Superior de Propaganda e Marketing in Rio de Janeiro. “However, in the case of CazéTV, I think it ended up drawing the attention of society as a whole because it was done in a very aggressive manner.”CazéTV has its roots in a Twitch livestream operated by Casimiro Miguel, a loquacious Brazilian who gained followers by broadcasting his humorous — and often profane — reactions to other video clips. He’s the face of the channel, with sports media company LiveMode Servicos Digitais SA as the behind-the-scenes partner securing the World Cup rights. He calls live matches in internetspeak, sounding more like a gamer running through Call of Duty than a traditional football presenter.The channel is operated by LiveMode, which is backed by investors including General Atlantic and XP Inc.’s private equity arm. In May, Cristiano Ronaldo became a shareholder in LiveModeTV, the group’s international division.Amid CazéTV’s colorful commentary, Brazilian regulators say, there were that created the urgency to bet, as well as risk warnings and age-restriction notices displayed in type too small to read. Under Brazilian law, betting must include clear warnings about the risks of gambling, including addiction, and can’t target young people or present gambling as a way to get rich or as an investment.Also read | World Cup 2026: Your go-to guideBrazil’s consumer watchdog, Senacon, opened an inquiry into possible irregularities in sports-betting aired on CazéTV on June 24 — the day Brazil downed Scotland to wrap up the group stage.
The BriefWire