EGR Power 50 2022: Ones to watch
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DAZN BET
Gibraltar-based DAZN BET is another company with bold ambitions of disrupting the industry by melding in-play sports betting with live sports action. For now, the product doesn’t look much different to other ‘me too’ sportsbooks out there, however the goal is to create a second-screen experience whereby sports streaming service DAZN knows you are watching a boxing bout on your smart TV and live odds from the DAZN BET app automatically appear on your phone. DAZN BET has headhunted a shedload of igaming execs, including CEO Mark Kemp from BoyleSports, while DAZN itself is bankrolled by Ukrainian-born Sir Len Blavatnik, fourth on the 2022 Sunday Times Rich List. So, future investment shouldn’t be a problem.
Smarkets
While Smarkets dropped out of the EGR Power 50 in 2019, the betting exchange is showing signs a return could be on the cards in 2023. The political turmoil in the UK has been a boon for Smarkets given that politics betting forms a core part of its offering and, so, its multimedia content output around the ‘next Prime Minister’ markets was second to none. SBK, which takes ‘back’ prices from the exchange, continues to draw plaudits for its UX. And the low-margin nature of SBK means its 1X2 football odds conspicuously beat bookmakers’ prices on the Oddschecker grid. Finally, the London-based firm hit the headlines in July for creating a slick advert fronted by founder and CEO Jason Trost that failed to receive clearance by the UK regulator Clearcast to appear on TV, but instead ran across commuter locations in London.
Winamax
Winamax remains a tour de force in its home market of France where it is the country’s leading poker operator and is credited with the wildly popular lottery-style sit-and-go formats that became ubiquitous in the sector. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, right? Data from traffic tracking site PokerScout shows Winamax.fr has, at the time of writing, a seven-day average of 1,600 cash-game players, putting it in fourth spot globally. The company also offers sports betting and has been licensed in Spain to offer the vertical alongside online poker to players since 2018. To elevate its profile in France, several partnerships have been inked with football clubs including LOSC Lille, RC Strasbourg and RC Lens.
Holland Casino
Dutch land-based operator Holland Casino was among the first 10 firms to receive a licence to operate online gambling in the Netherlands when the regulated market went live in October 2021. In H1 2022, of the group’s €353.4m turnover, €82.8m was derived from its online division. During the summer, Holland Casino and trade unions FNV and De Unie reached an agreement on new employee benefits, including a 2.5% wage increase from 1 June. On 1 January 2023, wages will increase by a further 0.75%. There was also a change of leadership as Petra de Ruiter was named the new CEO in September, having worked for companies such as Air France-KLM and Transavia. Alongside de Ruiter, the board of directors now consists of CFO Ruud Bergervoet and chief compliance officer Malinda Miener.