The Hyper-aggressive, super-expensive U.S. sports betting market that has seen a slew of tyros retreat in recent months has now done for all-action Betsson.
The Swedish-origin iGaming company has decided to shut down its B2C operations in the Rocky Mountain High state of Colorado, CEO Pontus Lindwall confirmed this week.
Instead, Betsson will continue to build and mine its direct-to-consumer markets further south, in Latin America, where it has growing focus in Argentina, Peru, booming Brazil, and soon Mexico.
The Colorado cut-off is imminent, scheduled for the end of this month, September, said Lindwall, who downplayed the decision by emphasising that Betsson still has extensive B2B interests in the U.S.
Dynamics
“Our B2C operations in Colorado served primarily to display our sportsbook for B2B purposes and to provide us with valuable first-hand insights into the dynamics of the US online sports betting market,” said a Betsson spokesperson.
The Scandi operator signed a 10-year deal with the family-owned Dostal Alley Brewpub and Casino in March, 2022 to run a sportsbook under its Betsafe brand.
Dostal Alley, based in Central City, a former gold mining town and now casino hub, 35 miles west of the metropolis, Denver, was one of the first casinos to open in Colorado when the state liberalised gambling in 1991.
Betsson concurrently opened a central U.S. office in Denver “to showcase its B2B offering”.
Their B2C pull-out follows the U.S. market retreat of fellow Nordic playmakers, Kindred, who exited The States at the end of June, and the recent B2C American retrenchment of challenged Omnichannel evoke, formerly 888 Holdings.
Rewards
While promising rich rewards, the U.S. sportsbook market–currently led by Flutter Entertainment’s FanDuel, Massachusetts-based DraftKings and the Entain-MGM Resorts International joint-venture, BetMGM–is arguably the toughest nut to crack in world betting.
And it’s one that has seen even PENN Entertainment’s super-funded, Walt Disney-backed ESPN BET struggle to make an impact.
By way of contrition, Lindwall explained: “[For us] the situation is different because we, unlike Kindred, only went to the U.S. with a B2B offering.
“We are already supplying our sportsbook to many other markets, and it’s the same product that we use successfully elsewhere.
“Every euro we invest in that sportsbook benefits us and our partners. We’re not dependent on the U.S. market in that regard.
“Looking at the Q4 figures, I think we have made the right decision,” Lindwall affirmed.
