SBC News Voice of the Sports Betting Industry
Releasing a corporate update, online betting exchange Smarkets governance informed the media of two major announcements.
Smarkets, the operator backed by Deutsche Telekom’s venture capital arm T-Venture and Passion Capital, confirms the operator has received a remote gaming license in the Republic of Ireland and plans to build a new headquarters in the City of London area.
After the recent changes to legislation within the Emerald Isle, Ireland counts itself amongst a growing number of European countries that offer regulated gaming markets for sports betting operators.
The company plans to establish a core market of Irish bettors that have previously been unable to take advantage of the firm’s market-beating commission rates. Smarkets offers clients only 2% commission on profits from betting, instead of the 3-5% other market incumbents charge.
Jason Trost Smarkers CEO commented: “We are committed to offering the best value and transparency to our customers. Our expansion into the Republic of Ireland enables us to offer more customers better odds and a market low commission of 2%, which is drastically lower than other online competitors. We’re looking forward to working with and getting to know this new customer base.”
Smarkets has experienced phenomenal growth this year, reporting over 400% YOY with plans to add 75 additional staff to the company’s London operations.
In order to facilitate the expansion, the company is to relocate to a new headquarters in the St Katharine Docks area of London. The space encompasses a top-floor 10,000 square foot bespoke space designed by leading London design firm, ThirdWay Interiors.
“Our new headquarters serves as a cornerstone of our commitment to innovate the betting industry as a whole, and reaffirms our promise to contribute innovation and jobs to the UK economy,” stated Mr Trost. Smarkets indicated that the company plans to complete the move before the end of Q4 of 2015.
