Industry News
BtoBet’s Alessandro Fried Discusses Aspire Global’s Acquisition of Sportsbook and Tech Company
BtoBet founder Alessandro Fried has discussed about Aspire Global’s acquisition of the sportsbook and tech company and what next awaits the newly expanded iGaming group. Of one thing he is certain… the future looks very bright for the entire group.
News that BtoBet was acquired by iGaming solutions provider Aspire Global took the industry by storm. And rightly so, because through this acquisition we have assisted to the expansion of an already consolidated group which in all its elements is now at the forefront of the industry’s B2B value chain.
But what was the primary reason that led to this acquisition? There are two aspects that were fundamental. Aspire Global was seeking to increase its B2B product offering to their customers, but was missing on one of the industry’s most important verticals, which is sportsbook. It’s one of the most important in terms of market requirements, but also from a revenue generation point of view. From our side we were looking to have a partner that would push us quickly to markets which we were still missing in our global footprint. So all in all this acquisition was the ideal match with both companies finding a mutual balance in each other to achieve their goals.
During the past days it’s not the first time that I have been asked “what is next now for BtoBet”? The company will definitely continue to uphold its identity as a leading brand on the market, maintaining its own organisational chart, and pursuing a strategy that for the past years has characterised it and put it apart from the competition. This means that the relationship with our partners, the way that we deliver our services and assist all operators, will remain unaltered.
Nonetheless, there is no denying that with BtoBet now forming part of this larger group our partners can expect to have major innovative solutions put at their disposal derivating from an increased investment capacity, and at the same time accessing additional content and products that constitute the group’s portfolio.
It is worthy of mention that through this acquisition, the Aspire Global group, and BtoBet directly, will gain a significant market advantage. The group will have an incredible market cover, with BtoBet leading the way in emergent markets such as Africa and Latin America, and Aspire Global playing a leading role in more mature and new markets such as Europe or the US.
This will in itself create new market opportunities, with Aspire Global now being able to offer a holistic iGaming solution in the markets they are currently present and where up until now they were missing the sportsbook solution. All this without mentioning the tangible potential to generate significant growth, with the group providing the possibility to large customers to enter new markets through the use of a very advanced and complete solution in a very short time-to-market.
During the past days one of the primary questions that I posed myself was “in which way will Aspire Global enable BtoBet in becoming a leading sportsbook platform provider?” The quest for this answer took me to what formed an intrinsic part of our goals from the very beginning… global presence and market share. BtoBet has a very strong presence in emerging markets, but in order to reach the next step we had to push our products in markets such as Europe and the US. However, these markets require a significant amount of investment which is countered by a high level of organisational influence in order to gain access to the industry’s larger operators and bookmakers. In this sense Aspire Global was the perfect match for us, with the group offering stability and carrying a lot of clout in the betting and gambling industry on a global level.
Aspire Global’s iGaming (PAM) platform is already certified in the US and other major markets, and this means that BtoBet with its sportsbook product can now gain immediate access to these yet uncharted markets for the company. This is what we ultimately expect from this new chapter… gaining a strong entry to these new regions that still do not offer a lot of technological alternatives comparable to the ones that we offer today, and take the opportunity to bring to market a complete product covering all the elements of the iGaming value chain. Together we will be able to meet the requests and expectations of all operators that intend to work with us in all market scenarios, whether mature or emerging.
At the same time, I firmly assert that BtoBet will keep its growth momentum in Africa and Latin America. We have invested heavily in these markets in the past and our commitment to these strategic markets will remain unaffected. The very strong knowledge that we have cultivated locally during the past years have transformed BtoBet in the perfect gateway for any Tier 1 or larger Tier 2 operators that want to target these continents, and such position will be further bolstered, in the short term.
BtoBet’s acquisition by Aspire Global is testimony of the success and potential that the company keeps in hold. It all boils down to the sheer determination and talent of each and every member that forms part, and has formed part in the past, of this incredible and fast growing company. This new chapter will mark the perfect opportunity for the company to reach new heights, and we all must evaluate this as another step towards achieving a great group result.
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Sky Bet has relocated its headquarters to Malta, a move that could cut its UK tax bill by tens of millions of pounds a year. The change will mean less money for the government at a time when the public finances are under strain.
The chancellor needs to increase tax revenues and is under pressure to levy higher duties on the betting industry – something the industry is aggressively campaigning against. Sky Bet, which describes itself as “the UK’s No. 1 betting app,” has moved its sportsbetting business to the Maltese branch of a new UK company, SBG Sports Limited.
Flutter Entertainment PLC, Sky Bet’s parent company, first told staff about the move in June, alongside a plan to make around 250 people in the UK redundant. At a meeting which was live-streamed across Flutter’s “UK and Ireland” business, workers in Leeds, Sunderland, London, Dublin, Gibraltar, Porto and Cluj were told the relocation of Sky Bet to Malta was driven by a “need to operate more efficiently” and to reduce costs.
Steve Birch, chief commercial officer of Sky Betting and Gaming, said that from November 1, “day-to-day commercial and marketing decision making will take place in Malta,” although Sky Bet’s Leeds office would continue to be one of Flutter’s largest.
The post Sky Bet Relocates Headquarters to Malta appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.
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GiG Software Plc, a leading B2B iGaming technology company, has announced its financial results for the third quarter ended 30 September 2025 (Q3 2025).
Key Operational Highlights
• Delivered three launches across Q3 2025, including GiG’s market-leading sportsbook in the UK, with two additional launches released following the end of the quarter
• Ongoing new business momentum continued, with five commercial agreements signed, including an agreement to supply the technology to a European Lottery alongside new business wins targeting the Brazilian market
• Continued progress against the Company’s key strategic growth priorities, in particular leveraging AI across the iGaming vertical
• Post quarter end, the Company entered into a commercial agreement with a European Operator to provide platform and sportsbook services to the French market.
Financial Summary of Q3 2025
• Q3 2025 revenue of €9.7 million (Q3 2024: €7.4 million), up 31% YoY
• Q3 2025 Adjusted EBITDA for the third quarter of 2025 increased €2.3 million to €1.2 million (Q3 2024: loss of €1.1 million) at a margin of 13% (Q3 2024: -15%)
• Q3 2025 operating loss reduced to €3.5 million (Q3 2024: underlying loss of €9.7 million)
• Cash and cash equivalents balance of €4.7 million as at 30 September 2025 (30 September 2024: €10.0 million; 31 December 2024: €6.4 million).
At the end of Q3 2025, GiG received €11m in relation to the Company’s directed share issue. In light of this, the Board is satisfied with the current strength of the Company’s Balance Sheet and, in the interest of all shareholders, do not currently envisage the need for additional funds.
Results for the First Nine Months of 2025
Revenue for the first nine months of 2025 (9M 2025) was up 22% YoY to €28.0 million (9M 2024: €23.0 million)
Adjusted EBITDA for 9M 2025 amounted to €2.6 million (9M 2024: underlying loss of €3.1 million), at a margin of 9% (9M 2024: -13%)
Operating loss for 9M 2025 reduced to €11.6 million (9M 2024: underlying loss of €22.1 million)
Richard Carter, Chief Executive Officer of GiG, said: “We continue to be encouraged with our ongoing financial and operational progress across the business. Our new business momentum has been supported by a number of key strategic new business wins, including recent gains targeting the Brazilian market and GiG securing a major European Lottery, marking our first entry into the lottery vertical.
“Q3 represented another period of progress for GiG and further evolution of the business. We continue to refine our go-to-market strategy and evolve our highly scalable technology platform complemented by an increasingly data-driven, AI-empowered operating model.”
The post GiG Software PLC Q3 Trading Results appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.
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On November 7, the CEOs of the gambling companies Svenska Spel and ATG published an op-ed in one of Sweden’s main newspapers – Svenska Dagbladet – in which they propose a total ban on all bonuses in the Swedish licensed gambling market.
BOS – the Swedish Trade Association for Online Gambling – responds today in the same paper that such a ban would unilaterally benefit Svenska Spel and ATG commercially, at the cost of poorer consumer protection in Sweden. The latter is related to the fact that a total bonus ban is expected to contribute to an accelerated transition from legally licensed gambling to unregulated unlicensed gambling.
“The elephant in the room for consumer protection is that consumers are to such a large extent absent from the legally licensed part of the gambling market. Instead, they have chosen the unregulated unlicensed market to an alarming extent, partly because of the very generous bonus systems offered there. We should not have that kind of excesses with sky-high bonuses in the licensed market, but to completely ban any form of moderate bonus offer is to give up the fight of defending the licensed gambling market and its consumer protection,” says BOS Secretary General Gustaf Hoffstedt.
Svenska Spel’s and ATG’s debate article is available here: https://www.svd.se/a/nyky6B/bonusar-maste-bort-driver-pa-ungas-spelande-skriver-debattorer
BOS’ debate article is available here, signed by Gustaf Hoffstedt, published today, November 14: https://www.svd.se/a/GyvAK4/spelbolagschefer-driver-spelarna-till-olagliga-spel-skriver-gustaf-hoffstedt
A translated version of Gustaf Hoffstedt’s op-ed can be read below:
Svenska Spel and ATG sacrifice consumer protection
Tighten the conditions for licensed gambling companies even further, demand gambling company CEOs Anna Johnson and Hasse Lord Skarplöth, Svenska Spel and ATG respectively, on SvD Debatt. Today, all forms of programs for loyal gambling customers are already prohibited in the Gaming Act. Johnson and Lord Skarplöth want this ban to now be extended to the currently permitted bonuses for new gambling customers. All in the name of protecting the gambling consumer.
Their reasoning may seem logical to someone who is not more deeply familiar with the conditions in the gambling market. What the reasoning, however, completely ignores is the elephant in the room when it comes to consumer protection in the Swedish gambling market: that consumers are increasingly abandoning licensed gambling companies in favour of companies that operate outside the regulated gambling market. According to a recent study by ATG, one of the signatories of the op-ed, the share of unlicensed online casino gambling can now account for just over 40 percent of turnover. In the unlicensed gambling market, the absence of consumer protection is total. The Swedish state receives zero kronor in gambling tax there and zero kronor in profit from its own state-owned gambling operations.
In the name of good consumer protection, the 40 percent lost to the unlicensed gambling market outweighs the 60 percent who still play licensed. This is because most high-volume gamblers are found among the 40 percent. High-volume gamblers are not synonymous with problem gamblers, but it is among these 40 percent that Swedish consumer protection needs to reach. Which it does not do today.
We believe that everyone agrees and is concerned that gambling among young people under the age of 18 is a growing problem, but to claim that this is due to the welcome bonuses that are currently offered to adult players, without mentioning how today’s young people learn to play for money through so-called skins and loot boxes in their favourite games, is not serious. Especially since data from our neighbouring country Denmark clearly points to the latter as the main reason for the increase in youth problem gambling there.
A high proportion of legally licensed gambling is achieved through striking a balance between consumer protection and gambling pleasure. The gambling consumers must themselves want to be in the licensed gambling market. If this is not achieved, the entire system will collapse.
The gambling authority Spelinspektionen has asked gambling consumers why they prefer to play unlicensed in Sweden to such a large extent. Among the main explanations is always the absence of loyalty programs for existing customers. Now Johnson and Lord Skarplöth also want to remove the possibility of giving a bonus to a new gambling customer. If they get their way, we probably haven’t seen the bottom yet in how low the proportion of legally licensed gambling can fall. As a reference, the Netherlands can be mentioned, whose gambling authority KSA recently announced that the proportion of illegal gambling now accounts for more than half of their gambling market.
So why are Svenska Spel and ATG acting in this way? Well, because even in a shrinking legal gambling market, there are market shares to defend. Both of these gambling companies, which emerged from the Swedish gambling monopoly, took significant market shares with them from the start when the Swedish gambling market was reregulated in 2019. The fact that their competitors, who in many cases start with zero customers on their data base, are prohibited from offering a bonus when a new customer is recruited is of course tempting for the old monopolists.
But they bite their own tail. Because with demands for further restrictions on the legal licensed gambling market, they can only defend their market share in an increasingly shrinking license market.
This is sad to see, because the Swedish gems ATG and Svenska Spel, where in the latter case all Swedes are part-owners of the company, could instead have shown leadership in defending a sustainable gambling license market. These two companies could have brought together the gambling market, or at least the members of their own trade association, for some common good. However, they ignore this and run solo games for short-term benefit for themselves, but not for Sweden and above all not for consumer protection in the gambling market.
Gustaf Hoffstedt, Secretary General, BOS – The Swedish Trade Association for Online Gambling
The post BOS in debate with Svenska Spel and ATG on SvD Debatt on bonuses in the gambling market appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.
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