SBC News Voice of the Sports Betting Industry
Betsson has expanded its Eastern European operations, establishing a position in the Belarusian betting and gaming sector via the launch of its Europebet brand.
The new brand will encompass sports betting, online casino and poker offerings, marking the first time online poker has been offered in the Belarusian market, and has secured agreements with several gaming providers.
Additionally, the NASDAQ Stockholm-listed company has plans to integrate a live casino offering in the coming weeks, whilst a ‘wider portfolio of games by other suppliers’ will also be incorporated into the new platform.
The launch coincides with the opening of an office in Belarusian capital Minsk, responsible for providing customer service support as well as administrative and operational operations.
Pontus Lindwall, CEO of Betsson, remarked: “Building on the success of Europebet in Georgia, the expansion into nearby Belarus is a natural step in our business growth strategy.
“We started looking into this market back in 2019 and have been preparing for this expansion ever since. As an operator, we will be introducing a high-quality and entertaining product, an excellent customer experience, innovative technology as well as providing multiple job opportunities through our new office in Minsk.”
The expansion follows on from Betsson’s acquisition of two licences from the Hellenic Gaming Commission (HGC) in May – one covering online gaming and another covering sports betting – securing its position in the newly restructured Greek market.
In a similar strategy to the Belarusian expansion, Betsson had previously opened a tech support centre in Athens prior to securing the licences.
Last week, Betsson released its Q2 trading report, identifying strong sportsbook performances as driving success in 2021, attributed to the UEFA 2020 European Championship and COPA America football tournaments.
The firm registered a substantial increase in its sports betting trading margin to 8.5%, indexing above its eight-quarter rolling average margin of 7.4%, and assisting the company with offsetting regulatory headwinds in Norway and Sweden.
Betsson group revenue is predicted to amount to SEK 1.73 billion to SEK 1.75 billion as a result of the positive sportsbook performance and a ‘favourable product mix’, whilst the operator has also reported ‘its strongest quarter ever in terms of EBIT’.
