Opinion: Delasport enters the UK market and shares more about its market availability strategy

Delasport is on a fast track to achieving a global leader position. In the last nine months, the company entered and fully complied with eight new markets: Romania, Malta, Sweden, Denmark, The Netherlands, Mexico, Germany, and recently received its UK B2B license.

Delasport CEO Oren Cohen Shwartz discusses Delasport’s market access, and its next steps.

Tell us about the reason Delasport wanted to acquire a B2B UK license?

The UK market is the most recent in a line of significant certificates and licenses acquisition.

The UK market is the largest in GGY in Europe with €8bn, which represents 30% of all revenues in the continent. Sportsbooks alone take around €2.3b market share. The UK B2B Remote Gambling Software License and Remote Betting Host Real Events License are very prestigious to acquire, and we are proud to be granted them.

Delasport will be able to offer our industry-leading Sportsbook and services to operators in the UK. For us, being able to take part in Europe's most desired iGaming market is a huge opportunity that we have worked hard for, and look forward to growing in. We also look forward to working with new and existing partners to bring our comprehensive offering to UK players who want the very best.

Why has Delasport decided to enter so many markets?

We are expanding worldwide for two main reasons: (1) to accommodate our partner’s expansion strategy, and (2) to attract new local and international partners. Operators understand that to thrive, they need to expand their business to more and more markets.

The industry has evolved from operating locally to scale up by scaling out. For example, William Hill depended too much on the UK market, and Betsson on the Swedish. These two companies executed their expansion strategy through merging and acquisition, and expanding their own brands into new markets. For example, William Hill’s joint venture with Playtech to form William Hill online, acquiring Mr. Green, and striking a deal with Caesars in the US.

How has Delasport managed to enter so many markets in such a short period of time?

It is a combo of talented compliance and tech team. Starting with understanding the market requirements and implementing accordingly. We are blessed with a technology advantage that allows us to quickly enter new markets and accommodate to changes rapidly. We have built a tech framework that makes it simple to adopt compliance requirements super-fast.

What are the reasons operators decide to enter new markets?

There are several reasons for that. One is simply that markets change rapidly, where some are becoming regulated for the first time, while others make changes and become stricter. Other indicators of a dynamic market landscape include payment methods availability, online marketing costs, ads restrictions, deposits, and gameplay limitations.

The only certainty is that operating in a given market requires adjustability and flexibility, so in order to cope, operators put their eggs in different baskets. Operators also want to enter new markets to scale up and seek additional revenues. And, scaling up a successful operation to a new market does not require double the effort; depending on the additional market, existing operational teams like casino managers and sports traders can accommodate the extra work with minimum effort. 

What is the process of entering a new market for Delasport? 

First and foremost, we are listening to our partners’ requests. It just makes sense to go hand in hand with our partners as they follow up on their own markets’ expansion strategy. Once we decide to enter a market, we run a research process in all departments and identify the market strengths and challenges from all perspectives: regulation, operation, content, player flavors etc.

We also conduct product and services gap analysis and prepare a plan to fill any that are found. Product localization is also very important for us, and we believe that it is crucial, on paramount level, to introduce tailored products and services in each market. In addition, we are seeking ways to disrupt the market and introduce new innovations to allow our partners to bring something new to the table and compete successfully.  

What is the next market that Delasport plans to enter? 

We plan to continue our expansion and enter additional markets, including Ontario in September 2022. In addition, we have obtained the Gaming Labs International (GLI) “Events Wagering System” certification standard GLI-33 and “Interactive-Gaming-Systems” certification standard GLI-19. These certifications enable us to bring our one-stop-shop Sports Betting, Online Casino, and managed services to the US - which is happening right now.