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A daily podcast delving into the biggest stories of the day throughout the sports betting and igaming sector.
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Due the problem is that this has been talked about for the last kind of five years or the tenure of President Macron and his economic program But nothing has ever materialized It appears iGaming Giants cannot sit still during what is viewed as a period of industry adjustment. This week, Bed 365 made its debut in the French online betting market. What are the prospects of the UK giant entering one of Europe's most complex and highly taxed markets? Elsewhere, Bedfair has also announced sweeping changes to its sportsbed house unit as CEO Barney Evans takes leadership of a new APAC and emerging markets division. So what do these giant movements forecast for the wider iGaming sector? We will talk about it today on iGaming Daily brought to you by Optimobe, the number one solution for iGaming and sports betting operators. I'm your host for today, Fernando Nott, Media Manager for SVC and I'm joined by the... two grades of SBC for another Ted and Ted Talking Time today on iGaming Daily. Ted Ormclay, editor for SBC News. How are you today? Very well, Fernando. Always up for some Ted and Ted Talking Time, always up for a podcast with you, our beloved host. Yeah, ready to get into it. Yeah, I feel like we're losing a commercial opportunity here. Any companies with a T on their names, maybe, looking into... creating a separate podcast with Ted Oncley and Ted Memmure, editor at large for SVC. How are you Ted? Very well Fernando. It's found the only room with air conditioning in the London office. uh That is the truth. The fate of my life at the moment. I'm absolutely blessed today Ted, in this heatwave the UK is going through. Of course I have nothing to say about it with Windows 10 being under 20 degrees here so I'm actually wearing a sweater for those of you who are not seeing the video version of this but now let's talk gaming let's talk the new moves by bet365 of course so bonjour, should we say we've also been reporting on bet365 for a long time so we're quite familiar with them and their interest in French moves. So what do you make of its debut in France? oh Yeah, we've been tracking this story for about nine to 10 months via our French correspondent, Jake Pollard. And PetSuite 65, PetSuite makes its French play and it's seeking to become a leading brand in a market of 18 licensed operators. Yeah, in a wider sense, news catches attention because it breaks away from kind of the narrative that's dominated 365 in the last year, which is its ongoing expansion in North America. And it kind of returns focus back to Europe. It will be interesting to see how 365 is willing, how much it's willing to commit to French market, which is, you know, it's a rich market, but it's one with many nuances. And yeah, this is a... It's definitely a story to keep an eye out on. I'd add as well on that, it's kind of interesting to see with Bet365 that the company, like a lot of others, I think has been scaling down its presence in grey markets, hasn't it? I think last year we saw the exit from China, I believe, which was quite a significant moment for them, whilst at the same time expanding in the US, as Ted mentioned. We're seeing them continually add more and more US states to their profile over there. And yeah, now launching in France, which is one of Europe's, I guess, top five regulated markets along with the UK, Italy, Germany and I don't know, who would you put Spain in there then, Ted? if I'm going to give it top America's going to top five, yeah. Yeah, yeah. So yeah, but as Ted said, it's... It's an interesting time in the French market as well as a lot of dynamics to consider. So yeah, it's going to be an interesting one to keep an eye on. And also while it's a top market, France is a high tax market with no online casino verticals. So what are the prospects for Bet365 in the country? Yes, the France market is unique and even it's regularly make up. In terms of the new 50 % tax, which has been applied since last July, in some senses, you can view this as quite a leveler for 365 as market entry, because it's just going to go through a period of adjustment across all brands. 365 has the resources to commit to scale. It's more down to its overall commitment. And where the management views France as a mainstream market. that it can kind of join its top ranks in Europe, then kind of moving on to kind of, yes, there's no kind of online casino, but I think that again, this for Bet365, you're kind of viewing that opportunity that if that oh market opens up, you've got that kind of internal capacity to launch an online casino and a very competitive offering. Mind you, the problem is that this has been talked about for the last kind of five years or the tenure of President Macron. in his economic program but nothing has ever materialized. guess also on that topic, Bet365 is a very proven sports book in lots of other markets. It's had a very innovative history in the UK. We mentioned the American uh side of things earlier, their US expansion. They're really one of the few Europe-founded or UK founded sportsbooks who have really found their niche in the US against the effective duopoly that is Fanjul and Giraffekings. So, you know, they've proven their ability to m set themselves apart in quite competitive markets. I think they're probably quite confident they can do the same in France with a pretty solid sportsbook m proposition. This is also coming up just ahead of the World Cup where there's going to be a lot em of interest in betting on what is the world's largest sports tournament and the tournament in which the French team are obviously always a top contender, very competitive. France is a big footballing nation, so there's going to be lot of interest there. They're probably thinking this is a good way to set themselves apart, compete in that sports book market. Like Ted said, maybe one day they'll be ready for... the hypothetical entrepreneur online casino market in France too. And you know who also is a top contender? FDJ, Winamax, Betclik. Those have been the local champions dominating the French market for forever, let's say. So how are incumbents likely to view Bet365 arrival in France? This has been interesting and there has been a mixed reaction. Look, Nicolas Peroud, who's now the chairman of Banjai, the owner of of Beckley, he actually welcomed the presence of BED 365 to investors. And he kind of views it that he's going to shake up the of the competitive dynamics and the pricing of the market. And also there's now kind of another giant brand that can pressure the government into, you know, lobbying for online casino. However, my kind of view here is that, you know, FTJ hasn't commented, but I think that FTJ is going to more undiscriminately buy Beckley 365's entry. especially now as kind of it's as of March it's started the migration of its main Parion Sports brand onto Unibet platform. So it's ongoing it's undertaking this transition ahead of kind of the World Cup trading. French consumers on the whole they love home brands and it will be kind of intriguing to see how Betky 65 kind of propositions this brand. I will also be paying kind of close attention to its initial campaigns and coverage with the French public. You guys kind of already mentioned how oh we were paying attention during 2025 and 2026 to how bet36.5 em had ambitions on US wagering but how significant is it its wider European positioning today after this launch? Hmm. Yeah, it's a good question. Europe at the moment is a tough place to compete as a bookmaker, I across a number of its biggest markets. We mentioned the high taxation, tightening regulatory conditions. I do think it's interesting that BetF365 has em made this commitment to France, to a new European market. a time when a lot of other companies I think are looking elsewhere, whether that's to Latin America or Africa as regulatory pressures back in Europe mount. The French market is also an interesting choice just because of how high the tax rate on GGR for online betting is there. So yeah, just think it's an interesting commitment from Bet365 to be, yeah, to be... for a greater European presence? Yeah, I agree. mean, I think Bet365, again, being a private company, doesn't have those kind of PLC pressures, right? So, yeah, they can kind of pick and choose its markets more easily. It can kind of play around. And it doesn't have that kind of pressure of failure that you'd get with your PLC ranks. Now, accounts show that Bet365 generated about 4.7 billion. in global income of which 2.8 to 3 billion is generated from what it calls core European markets, that being the UK, of course, Italy and Spain. I think that management is kind of viewing that dynamic and I think it needs kind of a fourth marketplace in which it wants to be dominant. Could France be it? That's up in the air. Do you guys think that Betrixx 5 realistically can become a friend giant and compete with those we already mentioned or will structural market conditions limit its long-term prospects? It's again, a very good question, I'd say yes, I'd lean on, think Bet365 have given us a lot of reasons for confidence in what they can pull off, I think over the years. I'm chiefly thinking about how they've been able to secure a lot of launches across America and set up a pretty strong position there. Again, considering what I said earlier just about how how big the local competitors are there, the homegrown firms, your Fanjuls, your DraftKings, and then guess BetMGM as well. They've proven their ability to go into the US and take on a lot of big homegrown firms. And I think they've got experience of that and they can apply that to the French market despite the fact that France, as I said, does have those pretty intense tax conditions that is going to be a big hurdle to get through. But you know, they're an experienced company and they've got proven products that I think they know what they're doing. Yeah. I I agree. It's very much a way to see. Front of the market is very much kind of step by step process. And again, I think it's going come down to localization and how French audiences kind of react with a P365 brand. After the first 12 months, it'll be kind of imperative to this project. So I guess we'll have to hashtag wait and see. was trying to hurry and Google how you say wait and see in French, but I'm not going to try. So right now we're going to jump straight into a very quick commercial break, but we will continue to discussing what's going on in the industry right after this break. Learn how OptiMove's positionless marketing is changing how iGaming teams operate. Discover how operators are using OptiMove's positionless marketing platform to launch personalized CRM campaigns, dynamically change casino lobbies and bet slips, and create engaging gamified experiences. Learn more at OptiMove.com. And we are back with more iGaming Daily to continue discussing the biggest news in the gaming industry, all of which you probably have already read on SBC Media's news outlets and if you haven't maybe you just need to go straight into SBC News go to the newsletter tab and subscribe to all SBC media newsletters to keep up to date with all the industry news worldwide and of course follow iGamingDaily on all social media platforms and subscribe to our podcast on your preferred podcasting channel but right now continuing With the information Barney Evans has been promoted to CEO of APAC and Emerging Markets in Flutter. So how does this appointment reflect wider organizational changes underway at Flutter? Yesterday Flutter announced the Markets leadership changes to export by Australia brand. It sees Barney Evans can long term CEO join the C3 of the executive team of Flutter Entertainment. and it will now lead the APAC and emerging markets units. And in Australia, Doug Brown succeeds in a CF Sportsbet Australia. Look, we've seen this play out throughout the year. Flux is kind of undertaking a structural change in leadership across its main units, and it's kind of reconfiguring how it operates across multiple markets. And what's what the actual strategic responsibilities is Evans being tasked with as he joins the expanded sea level structure at Flutter? Coming off reports yesterday, it appears that Barney Evans will kind of lead new opportunities in emerging markets and a planned kind of APAC expansion. But we're not clearly kind of uh we're yet to know how these are kind of classified by Flutter's board. So we kind of expect kind of a further update, perhaps this interim about how it's kind of restructuring main units. And of course, we're monitoring Flutter's expansion and Flutter's new decisions. But what should we be looking at specifically? What are Flutter's major strategic projects and delivery priorities for 2026-TET? Well, you know, obviously the big one, a big A big consideration for them will have been the situation in India and the ban on real money games uh nationwide that we had there last year. em That was a federal ban. em There are still a few states that allow em online gaming. Goa being one of them, I think. So, you know, they might be looking at how they can reposition themselves in India because they did have to pull the Junglee brand from India in the aftermath of that real money games ban. that was quite a big blow to them really. India was a pretty significant market for them in the APAC reporting region. So they might be looking at how they can reposition themselves in India more at the state level rather than federally. em And just keeping an eye on any developments across the region that might signal the prospect of further market launches. uh Asia for most is very different to say Europe or Latin America, there's a lot more countries there where betting is just outright illegal. There are grey markets. There's very few white markets, I think. So, you know, they might just be looking at the ones where they see some discussions about a potential market launch. know, South Korea often comes up in conversations. I think there's been a few em some sports federations there. I think the e-sports federation there actually have been making the case for for betting to be legalized or liberalized in some form to unlock more money for the sporting sectors through commercial relationships and so on like we see in Europe and Latin America and North America. Hong Kong is one of the bigger markets there, obviously with its own factors to consider as well. There's a few here and there. where they'll probably be keeping an eye on things and making any preparations for potential market launches. But it's a very, very different scenario to what the company will be used to in its more traditional markets in Europe and the Americas. The opportunities are much more opaque. Where this story doesn't really surprise observers is that think Flutter really needed reorganisation or two. split up its key units that were divided between Fandial USA and the rest as the international units. As Ted mentioned, Asian opportunities are much more different to European gaming via kind of regulated markets. However, if you just look at this from the top down, the number of kind of key strategic projects and deliveries that Flutter has... that's going on at the moment. You've got the revitalization program of FANDU in the U.S. In Europe, you've got the integration of SNI in CSAO. In Brazil, you've got better national upgrades. In the UK, you've got the first phase of RGD remote adjustments. These are huge, huge projects that they have to deliver on. And in the backdrop, you've also got this underlying objective by management to kind of improve improved profits generated from operations. It's a tall year with tall demands for Flutter. So, do you see these changes, um leadership, structural reshuffling for inside Flutter, do you see these changes as part of strategic evolution or do you think they could generate some noise uh and become a distraction em from operational and regulatory liabilities? Again, you raise a very good point. I think this is such an observation of Flutter and what kind of PLC it has become. It also underlines its global capacity, just operating across every continent and having to deal with these kind of clashes and how it has to kind glue everything together and find some kind of way to kind of move forward. This is gonna be the most testing year of Flutter as a business. I mean, we know that clearly coming off the Q1s. It'd be interesting to see where these projects are in 12 months. We will surely be following Flutter um and what they do very closely. Make sure you are subscribed to SBC media newsletters and follow iGamingDaily not only on social media but also on your preferred podcasting platform so you are up to date with whatever happens with Flutter. Of course a lot of things going on in Asia, at the closure of Junglee we mentioned the reforms in India so there's a lot to be looking at from Flutter and what they do. Of course what happens with bet365 in France we'll look into that as well but right now we have to wrap this one up Ted, Ted thank you very much uh thank you very much Ney and MacDonald for producing this episode I'm Fernando Nott and to our listeners out there we'll see you in the next one goodbye you