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Sky Bet signs five-year title partnership extension with the English Football League

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Sky Bet – part of Flutter Entertainment – has signed a record five-year partnership extension with the English Football League (EFL) that will see Sky Bet continue as the League’s title partner until the end of the 2028/29 campaign.

Building on a decade-long partnership,  the new rights fee represents a 50% increase from Sky Bet, providing significant revenues for EFL Clubs and support for the League’s overriding objective to make Clubs financially sustainable across all divisions.

The deal will also see Sky Bet invest £1 million per season and £6 million in total into a Community Fund held by the EFL to be invested into communities across England and Wales where EFL Clubs are located. Sky Bet and the EFL will use the funding to deliver activity via the EFL Trust and the network of Club Community Organisations (CCOs), with the initiatives in focus to be mutually agreed by the organisations.

Having first been agreed in 2013, the partnership – one of the longest and most significant in UK professional sport – is centred around a clear Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the two organisations that sets out how to deliver our joint objectives in a socially responsible way. This has always and rightly placed safer gambling at its heart, while also establishing a framework that allows us to engage the millions of EFL fans and connect them with the teams, players, and communities that they passionately support.

The MoU will continue to put the protection of children and other vulnerable individuals at its heart with both Sky Bet and the EFL making a renewed commitment to its approach in the promotion of the product.

Examples within the MoU include:

  • Sky Bet will not actively market themselves or their products in family areas of club stadiums or advertise to young fans
  • The EFL will dedicate a proportion of its central inventory to promote safer gambling messaging and support Sky Bet’s safer gambling campaigns
  • Sky Bet will fund a player education programme across the EFL’s 72 clubs that will focus on the potential dangers of gambling and provide support and advice

Both Sky Bet and the EFL will share learnings and insight from the partnership with Government, other sports and sector stakeholders to help inform the new sports sponsorship Code of Conduct which is being developed in accordance with the Gambling Act Review White Paper’s proposals.

Flutter recently welcomed the publication of the Gambling Act Review, which we see as a significant positive moment for the UK gambling sector, raising standards and bringing the regulatory framework into the digital age.

As part of the agreement, Sky Bet will continue as Official Title Partner of the Sky Bet EFL and Sky Bet Play-Offs on a worldwide basis. Sky Bet will also have rights to award the official Manager, Player and Goal of the Month awards as well as the seasonal ‘Golden Boot’ and ‘Golden Glove’ awards in each division.

Commenting, Steve Birch, Sky Bet Chief Commercial Officer, commented:  “I’m extremely proud of Sky Bet’s ongoing partnership with the EFL and delighted to have reached today’s agreement. Football is central to who we are and it’s great to be able to support the game and provide investment for Clubs across the Pyramid.

I’m particularly delighted that we can go one step further today with the announcement of our Sky Bet EFL Community Fund, seeking to make a real difference for people across England and Wales.

As the recent Sky Bet Play-Off Finals demonstrated, the EFL is going from strength to strength with packed grounds and millions watching games here in the UK and around the world.

We are absolutely committed to Safer Gambling, and I’m delighted that our partnership with the EFL shows how responsible betting and gaming operators, and sporting organisations can work together to promote safer gambling and tackle the issue of gambling harm.”

Commenting, Trevor Birch, EFL Chief Executive said: “For over a decade, Sky Bet has been a valuable partner for EFL Clubs, offering sustained investment to help Clubs navigate a volatile financial landscape and ensure fans can enjoy fantastic footballing entertainment in every corner of the country.

We have consistently seen our partnership evolve to move with the times and with community at the heart of the EFL, a new community investment fund is perfectly aligned and will help strengthen the partnership’s commitment to social responsibility. 

The Government’s recent Gambling White Paper highlighted the social responsibility measures that have accompanied our partnership with Sky Bet as being an example of good practice for the wider sports sector to learn from and we will look to deepen our commitment to the promotion of safer gambling as part of this extension.

On behalf of our Clubs we thank Sky Bet for its ongoing support to English football and we look forward to seeing our much-loved competition develop yet further with the additional certainty this investment provides.”

DAZN Bet

Vibrez! A New, Mysterious Sports Betting Operator Gains ANJ Approval in France

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The French online sports betting market, often described as one of the most tightly regulated yet least dynamic in Europe, is preparing to welcome a surprising new entrant: Vibrez!. The operator secured regulatory approval and is now gearing up for launch, marking one of the few truly new brand arrivals in recent years.

Regulatory Approval and Market Entry
In 2025, Vibrez obtained an operating license from the Autorité Nationale des Jeux (ANJ), under the authorization number 0063-PS-2025-05-15-AGR-00. The five-year renewable license covers only sports betting, with no authorization for poker or horse racing verticals.

At this stage, Vibrez’s website (www.vibrez.fr) is little more than a placeholder page. But the license approval signals the company’s commitment to entering France in 2026, timed closely with another newcomer, Bet365, which is in the process of getting its license just weeks later.

Who is Behind Vibrez?
The operator remains shrouded in mystery. Unlike market entrants backed by household names such as FDJ, Kindred, or Entain, Vibrez appears to be an independent French-facing brand.

The licensing application was submitted via BCFR, the same entity linked to brands like DAZN Bet, Circus Bet, and Vbet in France. This strongly suggests that BetConstruct, a B2B software and platform provider with experience powering multiple operators, is the technology backbone behind Vibrez.

While the corporate structure offers some clarity, Vibrez’s strategic positioning and long-term ambitions remain uncertain.

Branding and Market Positioning: Hints of Community?
Even the usually well-informed French website lebonparisportif.com, which monitor the iGaming market in France, cannot say much about what this new bookmaker will offer, but they wrote a few guesses about in an article in French (“Qui se cache derrière Vibrez?”) that we translate some key suggestions here:

According to them, the brand name “Vibrez” (French for “feel the thrill” or “vibrate”) and the teaser slogan “prépare-toi à vibrer” hint at a potentially community-driven or experience-focused positioning. This suggests Vibrez may experiment with new betting formats, perhaps inspired by simplified or binary-style markets such as “Yes/No” propositions, aiming to differentiate from more traditional sportsbook offerings.

The French market, while sizable, leaves little room for pure replication strategies. To gain traction against entrenched competitors like Winamax, Betclic, and ParionsSport (FDJ), Vibrez will need to bring innovation, either through product design, gamification, or marketing strategies that resonate with younger demographics.

The French Market: A Rare Case of New Entrants
The arrival of Vibrez is significant precisely because new operators are rare in France. DAZN Bet, is the most recent betting site launched in France.

With two brand launches expected before the end of 2026, observers anticipate a modest shake-up in an otherwise mature and concentrated market. Whether Vibrez will bring genuine disruption or simply serve as a niche challenger remains to be seen.

What Comes Next
Vibrez has yet to announce an official launch date, though industry insiders expect the platform to go live in 2026, probably before the World Cup this summer, which should be a highlight in the sports betting world this year. Welcome bonuses are likely to follow the French market standard, capped at €100 in free bets due to ANJ’s strict promotional guidelines.

Until then, Vibrez represents one of the most intriguing mysteries in French iGaming: a brand with no legacy, no major international parent, but potentially bold ambitions to “make the market vibrate.”

The post Vibrez! A New, Mysterious Sports Betting Operator Gains ANJ Approval in France appeared first on Eastern European Gaming | Global iGaming & Tech Intelligence Hub.

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Greece Led Europe’s iGaming Growth in 2025 — Now the Drivers Are Fully Explained

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In the second half of 2025, Greece emerged as Europe’s fastest-growing iGaming market. While several major jurisdictions slowed or declined, Greek market demand rose by more than 50% between June and December, standing out as one of the year’s clearest growth stories.

According to data from Blask, the surge was not the result of a single tournament or seasonal spike. Instead, it reflected a structural shift driven by a combination of sports momentum, regulatory reform and casino market dynamics — factors that can now be traced in detail through Blask’s newly released Market Explanation feature.

Continuous sports momentum without demand gaps

Greece’s growth was underpinned by a tightly stacked sports calendar that sustained engagement across multiple months. EuroBasket 2025 in late August, the kickoff of the Stoiximan Super League, UEFA Champions League matchdays under the new league-phase format, and the EuroLeague season featuring Greek clubs created a continuous rhythm of high-interest betting cycles throughout autumn.

Rather than short-lived peaks followed by sharp declines, demand remained elevated well beyond individual events. This is a pattern clearly visible on the Blask Index trend line.

Casino reform reshaped demand behavior

One of the most significant contributors came from the casino segment. Greece’s decision to raise RNG stake limits from €2 to €20 altered the mechanics of the market, allowing online casinos to absorb demand during sports off-peak periods.

As sports-led acquisition increasingly converted into casino play, operators reported double-digit iGaming growth. Market Explanation analysis shows that this effect persisted over time, confirming the shift as structural rather than seasonal.

Enforcement redirected demand to licensed operators

Regulatory action further reinforced the upward trend. In December, Greek authorities blocked approximately 11,000 illegal gambling domains. Instead of suppressing demand, the move redirected player interest toward licensed platforms, strengthening regulated market performance.

The impact was amplified by the adoption of IRIS instant payments, which reduced deposit friction and improved conversion from interest to activity.

From tracking trends to understanding causes

To surface these drivers, Blask has introduced Market Explanation — an AI-powered layer within the Blask Index that allows users to click on any country’s trend line and instantly see a sourced breakdown of the forces behind the movement. Sports calendars, regulatory changes, casino dynamics and macro factors are analyzed together, turning raw demand signals into actionable market context.

Greece’s 2025 performance illustrates how this approach changes market analysis. Rather than simply observing that demand is rising, operators, suppliers and investors can now see why it is happening — and which levers are shaping the trajectory of a market in real time.

The post Greece Led Europe’s iGaming Growth in 2025 — Now the Drivers Are Fully Explained appeared first on Eastern European Gaming | Global iGaming & Tech Intelligence Hub.

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Crypto Turnkey

GR8 Tech Delivers 1.6× Higher Deposit Conversion and 3× Reduction in Transaction Costs for Crypto Turnkey Clients

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Initial performance metrics from providers utilizing GR8 Tech’s Crypto Turnkey solution indicate notable enhancements in player conversion and operational efficiency within months of transitioning to cryptocurrency payments.
Operators utilizing Crypto Turnkey are indicating:
1.6 times greater conversion for initial and subsequent deposits
● Cost per transaction can be as much as 3 times lower than conventional payment methods.
Withdrawal processing up to 2.5 times quicker
“The conversion improvements and cost reductions we see would take much longer to achieve through payment optimization alone,” said Denys Parkhomenko, GR8 Tech CPO. “Crypto Turnkey unlocks access to the fastest-growing and highly valuable player demographic in iGaming. When over half of your target audience is already using crypto for investments, offering it as a payment method is a must—numbers prove it.”
The findings confirm the business rationale presented at Crypto Turnkey’s inception: cryptocurrency eliminates reliance on payment providers and draws higher-value participants who deposit larger amounts and wager more often. With settlement finishing within minutes rather than days, operators are experiencing enhanced margins and clearly superior player satisfaction.
Crypto Turnkey is now accessible worldwide and can be implemented as a new option or transitioned from Hyper Turnkey.

Unlock Your Crypto Advantage at ICE Barcelona 2026

The post GR8 Tech Delivers 1.6× Higher Deposit Conversion and 3× Reduction in Transaction Costs for Crypto Turnkey Clients appeared first on Eastern European Gaming | Global iGaming & Tech Intelligence Hub.

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