Kindred Group has formed a partnership with the Swinomish Tribe in Washington to launch its Unibet & Swinomish Sportsbook brand at the Swinomish Casnio & Lodge.
The deal sees Kindred at Swinomish enter a strategic partnership for at least the next six years, with a clause in the contract leaving an option for an additional five-year term.
Pending all necessary regulatory approvals, Kindred will enter its seventh US state with its Unibet sportsbook brand.
The firm operates in six other US states, Arizona, Iowa, Indiana, Virginia, Pennsylvania and New Jersey. It also launched in Ontario following the go-live date in April.
“We are very excited to expand our footprint in the US, and to do so together with the Swinomish tribe. The opening of a Sportsbook Lounge at the Swinomish Casino and Lodge will allow us to offer a best-in-class sports betting experience”, commented Manuel Stan, SVP of North America Kindred Group.
Kindred CEO Henrik Tjärnström has previously announced his intentions of entering North America in a measured way, placing the fundamentals down first before scaling up.
Addressing investors during the group’s Q2 financial results call, he noted that there was fierce competition, particularly in the US, but that Kindred is approaching the markets in a focused manner.
He explained: “We’ve had a long-term view on the North American market and that remains firmly in place. We know the value of putting the fundamentals in place and then scaling.
“We’re also not going for all the states across North America – we’re doing a select focus on states to start with, especially focusing on the multi-product states as we highlighted, with the platform launch now in New Jersey being a key milestone for us.
“We’re doing it our way, in a focused way, going for those, and then when we see igaming regulation developing in other states, we’ll be increasing pressure in those states also.”
