Following the strategic move by online gaming operator Betsson to wind down its presence in the competitive UK market, CEO Jesper Svensson believes that the Latin American market presents a wide array of new opportunities for the company.
Speaking to Kelly Kehn, SBC’s Global Relationship Director, in the latest episode of the SBC Leaders podcast, Svensson was quizzed on whether Betsson’s exit from the UK market was pre-emptive of impending regulations or whether it was due to a new focus on international markets.
He explained: “I would say that to some degree, it’s a combination of both [pre-empting UK interference and looking at other markets]. We were never really big players in the UK market . We have several brands across multiple platforms but the operational cost for that wasn’t efficient enough to keep them running so we had to focus our offering more.
“At the same time, we saw new opportunities in other markets. So both of those things you mentioned had an impact on our decision.
“Now our business is much more streamlined and it’s easy to manage. It’s also more cost efficient so we’re moving forward with that as well as eyeing up new opportunities in other countries.”
Latin America was among the key areas in which Betsson had refocused its efforts, with Svensson highlighting the region’s love of sports and the burgeoning sports betting opportunities as key drivers for potential growth.
“We are focusing a lot on Latin America, we’re seeing a lot of great opportunities there,” Svensson told Kehn. “We’re seeing very solid growth in this region and we expect to see this for many years to come.
“We recently also gained a license in Argentina so we’re moving forward with that as well. It’s a very big continent with huge markets like Brazil, which has huge potential, and even countries like Peru and Colombia are seeing great amounts of growth.
“We have been in the region for quite some time. In some countries, we have had a bit of a head start so we’re now trying to speed up our growth in those areas and keep a strong position in the region,” he continued.
“They love sports in Latin America! You can say that football is popular all around the world but in Latin America it’s a real passion. Football is number one, two and three in the most popular sports – and is probably also number five and six. That is great for us and is also why we did the agreement with the Peru Liga 1 which will give us really good exposure in the region.”
Watch the full interview here.
