SoloAzar: 20th anniversary

With a prominent presence at international trade shows and a robust digital platform, SoloAzar has managed to adapt and grow in a constantly changing industry.

“SoloAzar has stood out for its presence at events around the world, which has allowed us to grow in audience and experience in new markets. We have improved our digital platform to communicate content on a daily basis and we were pioneers in using social media as an ideal tool for promoting our clients in the industry,” says Maria Eugenia Crivellini, Sales Director of SoloAzar.

Maria Eugenia Crivellini and Sergio De Valais have managed to leave SoloAzar an international mark, which currently has a team of editors, translators and designers, as well as a growing sales team and social media sector.

International event coverage and networking

During SoloAzar’s 20 years, María Eugenia has attended events, shows and congresses dedicated to the games of chance sector, establishing commercial agreements with organizers around the world, as well as with manufacturers and exhibitors.

“Covering shows is still exciting after 20 years in this industry. I still get butterflies in my stomach when I meet new markets, events, people, clients and colleagues. I remember the first time I covered a show in Italy; The trip was very long with bad connections, but it was worth it to rest and prepare myself. The Italian market pleasantly surprised me, and SoloAzar presence in Europe was very significant,” added María Eugenia.

The validity of SoloAzar in a changing environment

“Over these 20 years, we have gradually implemented new technologies and necessary changes. Today, SOLOAZAR distributes its news content through various channels such as YouTube, Spotify, LinkedIn, Instagram, X and Facebook,” said María Eugenia.

SoloAzar beginnings

In 2004, María Emilia Narizzano and her partner had a consultancy and worked in the Communications area of ​​Codere. They began to follow the news related to the Brazilian gaming market, and they realized that there was no source that unified all the information. “Then we came up with the idea of ​​creating SoloAzar, as a need of our own to be able to have all the news from the gambling sector.”

First steps within the gaming industry

“The first challenge was to create the page. “We needed a website that had an internal load, a back-end to load the news,” said María Emilia, and added: “That’s where Maximiliano Grimoldi appeared, whom we call “the magician”, because he also likes to do magic, and he was the one who created the first SoloAzar website.”

“Once we managed to establish where we could place advertising to market the page, the next step was to get advertisers. In the industry at that time, there were 2 shows in Buenos Aires: SAGSE by Giorgio (Gennari Litta) and the alternative event.

Giorgio Gennari Litta promoted the site and invited SoloAzar to participate with a stand at SAGSE. In parallel, they got their first sponsor: Pedro Wei.

Anecdotes and experiences at the games of chance shows

“Bettina Mardyks joined us to work. She is a total genius and together we have lived thousands of anecdotes. We didn't have money to invest in this business, and we made the stand as we could," says María Emilia. "We brought furniture, pictures from home and the office desk, and we loaded what we could into the van. Guillermo Gabella from the Boldt company helped us a lot to enter the market, and his people helped us load the car in the chaotic moment of the dismantling of the fairs. The anecdotes at the fairs were the most fun," she said.

Change of owners

"Then SoloAzar passed into the hands of Euge (Maria Eugenia Crivellini) and Sergio (De Valais), who promoted it three times as much, and it's nice to see now that it's a mega-project and it fills me with pride to have been part of its beginning," María Emilia told us.

Present and future: Evolution and adaptation

María Eugenia Crivellini and Sergio De Valais

“We started working together as partners with Sergio De Valais in 2011. It was a proposal made to me by María Emilia Narizzano, who was about to become a mother for the second time and could not continue with SoloAzar,” says María Eugenia Crivelini, who had already worked with Sergio organizing the ELA event in Monterrey (Mexico) and also in Casinos de Latinoamérica and European Casinos The Elite.

Achievements and highlights

“One of our greatest achievements has been building a close community despite the distances. Reaching a new location and being recognized by visitors and exhibitors is a great pride that drives us to continue growing. Our main interest is to maintain our physical presence at each event and continue consolidating ourselves as a fundamental information pillar in this industry,” María Eugenia concluded.

SoloAzar League

At SoloAzar, we celebrated our 20th anniversary with the launch of the SoloAzar League, an innovative competition that brought together some of the industry’s leading companies. The challenges took place during major industry events like ICE London, SBC Summit Rio, GAT Expo Cartagena, PGS Lima, and G2E Las Vegas, where the grand finale was held.

Throughout each event, participants earned points by competing in different games, combining physical and virtual challenges. Some of the activities included the bottle flip challenge, the classic Tutti Frutti game or Scattergories, the Flying Face game, a virtual balance challenge, and a ping pong paddle bounce contest.

The top three companies were rewarded with advertising space on SoloAzar’s website, which attracts between 80,000 and 90,000 monthly visits. First place received a full year of mobile banner advertising, valued at $5,000. Second place was awarded six months of advertising, valued at $2,500. Third place received three months of advertising, valued at $1,300.

After adding up the points from all challenges, Sportradar was crowned champion of the SoloAzar League, followed by Land Vegas in second place and CT Interactive in third.