Superbet takes Fortuna team for Poland push
Operator to launch both online and retail after hiring Poland CEO and marketing director from rival firm
Superbet is planning to launch in Poland later this year after hiring a team of senior staffers from rival operator Fortuna, including its Poland CEO and online marketing director, EGR Intel has learned.
In total, around a dozen staffers have left Fortuna in recent months to join Superbet, which is currently in the process of obtaining online and retail licences in Poland.
Fortuna Poland’s former CEO Aleš Dobeš and online marketing director Antonin Laš joined late last year as Superbet Poland CEO and COO respectively, while a number of other senior staffers made the move earlier this year, including head of bookmaking Maciej Nowak.
The hires form part of Superbet’s international expansion plans with the firm having built a strong presence in its home market of Romania.
Speaking to EGR Intel this morning, Dobeš said Superbet hoped to open between 100 and 150 shops in Poland by the end of the year with that number expected to rise to 250 before the 2018 World Cup.
In addition, Dobeš said Superbet would go online in H2 2017 with recent regulatory changes and forthcoming policing measures, such as payments and IP blocking, having made the market more attractive.
“The Polish online market has big potential,” Dobeš said. “Before the changes the onshore market was worth PLN1.45bn and offshore was more than PLN6bn but we’ve recently started to see offshore competitors leave and in one month the onshore market increased by more than 100%.”
Dobeš also said the decision to leave Fortuna was a “simple one” having met with Superbet CEO Sacha Dragic, sharing his vision for the firm and the Polish market.
News of the Fortuna hires comes amid a number of other senior appointments at the firm with former William Hill quartet Jamie Hart, Finbarr Joy, Peter Morgan and Stuart Weston all having agreed to join in recent months.