Latest News

The importance of reg-tech for new market expansion

Published

2 months ago

January 30, 2023

Reading Time: 4 minutes

Mark Chakravarti, Investment Director at SportingWin, talks about the operator’s experience of securing a licence in Bulgaria and how it will now use its in-house regulatory platform to enter additional European markets

I would argue that a proprietary regulatory platform is the most important thing for operators looking to drive European market expansion. Without a modern, agile platform that provides the insight that regulators require, licence applications will be drawn out for months and even years.

At SportingWin, we came to learn this the hard way.

When we started the business back in 2019, we identified Bulgaria as being a market of huge potential and one that we were keen to make our debut. Based on our assessment, AGR would hit 20% a year for the next five years, leading to a market value of €500m per year.

We then set about compiling the legal paperwork required by the National Revenue Agency for the licence application – this was a significant task in its own right, but we would soon learn that this was just the very start of the process.

The Bulgarian regulator is one of the most stringent in the world, which of course is a good thing. It ensures that the operators that do secure approval to enter the market are of the highest calibre especially when it comes to responsible gambling.

Under its requirements, operators must be able to deliver certain insights and information to the regulator in real time and this in turn requires a powerful, agile regulatory platform. Ultimately, we took the decision to develop this technology in-house.

While this was the right course of action, it significantly slowed down our licence application process while the regulator and our in-house development team worked together to ensure that it was fully compliant with its requirements.

We eventually reached the point where the National Revenue Agency was happy with the paperwork we submitted and our proprietary reg-tech platform, giving us the green light to enter the market in January 2021. Since then, we have gained incredible traction with players.

As with most operators, we are now looking to take SportingWin into additional markets and our in-house developed regulatory platform will be the foundation for building out our presence across the region. It really is impressive and now that it has been certified in Bulgaria, it can be used elsewhere.

We have identified Romania as our next market and while we have yet to submit our application to the regulator, our proprietary regulatory platform will ensure it is a much easier – and faster – process than that in Bulgaria.

This is for several reasons. Given just how stringent the National Revenue Agency is with its standards and enforcing them, other jurisdictions are happy to approve our platform without subjecting it to the same level of scrutiny again.

The same applies to a lot of the paperwork that we completed as part of our application in Bulgaria – for example, the Romanian regulator is happy to carry this over as well as the technical and software certifications that we were granted.

Of course, local regulators will still carry out their own investigations and will want to test certain aspects of our platforms, tech and software, but much of the hard work has already been done and this will allow us to enter additional markets at pace – we anticipate being live in Romania in H1.

In addition to an in-house regulatory platform, approved paperwork and the experience of having been through a licence application, the final piece of the puzzle operators need is a European trademark for their brand/brands.

We have recently secured this for SportingWin and it really does put us in the driving seat to identify and enter regulated European markets with an incredibly strong brand, superior product offering and a powerful regulatory platform running in the background.

Because of this, SportingWin is an attractive proposition for investors looking to join our success story. Due to the technical foundations we have in place, the investment we secure is pumped into marketing our brand in each country, which in turn allows us to generate significant share quickly.

Despite having been live in Bulgaria for only a year, we have a large and loyal player base and in Q4, generated €500,000 in NGR. This is set to grow significantly off the back of our recently-announced partnership with Pinnacle, allowing us to add a betting exchange to our offering for the first time.

As with most small to medium-sized operators, the team behind SportingWin has a long-term plan for the business and that is to grow it into an exciting acquisition opportunity for one of the power players looking to build their presence in regulated markets across Europe.

Without our proprietary regulator platform, European trademark and growing collection of licences, SportingWin would simply not be on the radar of these organisations, let alone be considered a serious M&A opportunity.

Of course, there is still a lot of work to do before we reach that chapter of our story but given that the founders of SportingWin have built and sold betting businesses before, it is one that I am confident we will write in next to no time at all.

Meanwhile, we will continue to use our regulatory platform to launch our player-favourite brand and superior betting experience into markets across Europe, generating substantial revenues from each of the jurisdictions we target.

Latest News

BLAST teams up with Fortnite for third year and will operate the entire 2023 Fortnite Champion Series

Published

1 hour ago

March 22, 2023

George Miller

Reading Time: 2 minutes

BLAST has teamed up for a third consecutive year with Fortnite, and this year will produce and deliver the entire 2023 Fortnite Champion Series (FNCS) with a combined prize pool of $10 million on the line.

As part of the collaboration, BLAST will work with the Competitive Fortnite team to deliver three Majors and bring FNCS to an epic conclusion for the year when the Global Championship takes place in-person from Copenhagen, Denmark in late 2023 with an eye-watering $4 million on the line.

The new FNCS format consists of three Majors played across February and March (Major One), April and May (Major Two) and July and August (Major Three). All three Majors will see the European and North American regions produced and broadcasted from BLAST’s Copenhagen studios with broadcast talent on-site and players playing remotely.

The announcement strengthens and deepens the esports entertainment company’s relationship with Competitive Fortnite, after having delivered the entire 2022 FNCS schedule and the long-awaited return to Fortnite in-person events in Raleigh, North Carolina last November for the FNCS Invitational.

BLAST first teamed up with Fortnite in 2021, when delivering the FNCS All-Star Showdown and FNCS Grand Royale events.

Leo Matlock, MD of Development at BLAST, said: “Extending and expanding the BLAST and Competitive Fortnite partnership into a third year is testament to the brilliant progress that has been made with FNCS over the last few years. We are really proud of the journey we’ve been on with the Competitive Fortnite team and how we have been able to support them in elevating the FNCS fan experience by focusing on player-led storylines and fan-first production techniques. 2023 is turning out to be another thrilling year, Major One has already been completed from the BLAST Copenhagen studios and we’re excited to deliver the remaining three FNCS events with a combined prize pool of $8 million on the line.

“We look forward to building on last year’s unforgettable return to Fortnite in-person events for the FNCS Invitational in Raleigh, North Carolina by bringing the year-defining FNCS Global Championship to our hometown of Copenhagen, Denmark for fans and players to enjoy later this year.”

Latest News

TVBET enters distribution agreement with Golden Matrix Group

Published

2 hours ago

March 22, 2023

George Miller

Reading Time: < 1 minute

The live games provider TVBET has signed a partnership with Golden Matrix Group, a deal which sees the company incorporate the provider’s top-notch live games into its offering.

TVBET is a provider which offers easy and smooth API integration of TV games based on odds. Its games are a perfect product for casinos and bookmakers, both online and offline. TVBET games are well-known card games and lotteries adapted for online streaming format. Since its launch in 2016, TVBET’s major idea has been to create and then maintain top-shelf and up-to-date content for partners that will literally «glue» any player to their computer’s, tv’s, or smartphone’s screen.

The partnership with Golden Matrix Group strengthens TVBET’s position in the igaming arena and delivers its content even wider.

Golden Matrix Group is an established gaming technology company that develops and owns online gaming IP and builds configurable and scalable white-label social gaming platforms for its international customers. The gaming IP includes tools for marketing, acquisition, retention, and monetization of users. The provided platform is unparalleled in both mobile and desktop website deployment, proving compatible throughout all major operating systems and web browsers.

Utku Sarper, TVBET Sales Lead, states: “We are entering a new win-win deal with a strong igaming representative — Golden Matrix Group. It is proud to welcome the B2B company among our partners, and we are sure the synergy of our companies will bring us mutually beneficial results!

TVBET will enhance Golden Matrix Group’s content offering, and for us, this deal will bring new growth opportunities in the market.”

Latest News

Hacksaw Gaming Signs Content Agreement with Sisal

Published

3 hours ago

March 22, 2023

George Miller

Reading Time: < 1 minute

Leading iGaming studio Hacksaw Gaming has entered into a partnership with Italian-facing online casino operator Sisal.

Under the terms of the deal, Sisal players will gain access to a selection of popular Hacksaw Gaming titles, beginning with March 2020 release Cubes. Cubes was Hacksaw Gaming’s first 3D-styled release, proving so popular it went on to spawn a sequel with Cubes 2 arriving in February 2021.

Several Hacksaw Gaming games are scheduled to follow over the proceeding weeks, including slot favourites Hand of Anubis, Hop’n’Pop, and Aztec Twist, plus instant win games Mines and Coins, which recently turned one year old. Designed to reinvent non-traditional gaming, the Dare2Win series puts a modern twist on beloved arcade games and offers alternative casino entertainment for players everywhere.

Hacksaw Gaming’s latest partner, Flutter-owned Sisal, is a leading force in Italy with a number of product verticals among its portfolio. In addition to online slots, Sisal players can wager on sports, poker, and lottery games. Sisal’s wide range of lottery titles includes SiVinceTutto, Vinci per la vita – Win for Life, Eurojackpot, VinciCasa, and SuperEnalotto – Italy’s leading lottery title offered exclusively by Sisal since 1997.

Today’s news represents another step forward for Hacksaw Gaming as part of an ongoing strategy to bolster its footing in regulated markets.

Remarking on the partnership, Gabrielle Star, Hacksaw Gaming’s CCO, said: “Hacksaw Gaming goes from strength to strength in Italy following our market entry earlier this year.

“This deal represents a signal of our intentions as we continue to broaden our horizons in regulated markets. Sisal is a household name in Italy, and we’re delighted its players can finally get a taste of our award-winning games.”