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Mr Green Sportsbook to Bow Out of the UK Market in September
By Jeff Osienya Aug 25, 2022 Industry888 Holdings moves to pull its Mr Green Sportsbook brand out of the UK (except in Ireland) following regulatory woes and slipping revenue. However, Mr Green’s casino vertical will continue serving the Brits despite the exit of its sports betting sibling.Mr Green, the self-proclaimed gentleman of sports betting and iGaming, has announced that it will close doors on its British sports betting patrons on September 8. The information was disclosed by 888 Holdings, which recently took over Mr Green’s operations after buying out William Hill’s non-US assets from Caesars in a $2.35 billion transaction completed in July 2022.
The sportsbook platform has of late experienced regulatory problems in various markets, and this move is one of many that 888 Holdings has resorted to in a bid to keep its head above water. The renowned London-listed gaming operator had previously announced it would take drastic measures to offset its financial losses and strengthen its market position.
Of note, however, is that the decision only affects players in Great Britain, with the Ireland-facing sportsbook maintaining operations as usual. Any player with questions regarding the closure of Mr Green’s sportsbook in the UK has been advised to contact the company’s customer support via live chat ahead of the September closure.
Additionally, only the sports betting vertical of Mr Green is closing its UK operations; the other iGaming verticals under Mr Green, including online casino, live casino, bingo, and Keno, will continue serving their British clientele.
What Happens to Pending Bets in the Mr Green UK Sportsbook?
Before officially withdrawing its UK sportsbook platform, Mr Green will offer its sports betters a 48-hour window, starting September 6, during which they can access their accounts to check their bets and betting history. However, within those two days, players cannot place any wagers.
Additionally, all players with pending bets yet to be resolved should not worry because the gaming operator will not cancel them, including those to settle after September 8. Winnings will then be automatically sent to the players’ accounts, and they can withdraw their winnings any time they wish without any restrictions.
A Slew of Challenges Made Worse by Declining Revenue
In the H1 2022 revenue report, 888 Holdings disclosed that its revenue had dipped more than 13% year-over-year. The dip was mainly due to new responsible gaming measures announced in the UK, among other obstacles. And given that the UK market is expected to further tighten its regulations in the coming months, the ride was expected to get rockier for Mr Green’s sportsbook in the UK.
Incidentally, the UK exit comes a few months after 888 Holdings closed its sportsbook operations in Germany due to harsh industry regulations. However, while the close of sportsbook operations in the UK is a bit of a shocker, the gaming operator’s decision to back out of Germany had been sort of anticipated. Likewise, renowned gaming companies such as Unibet, Kindred Group, and some online poker giants also exited the market to steer clear of the Fourth Interstate Treaty on Gambling (GlüNeuRStV).
Moreover, over the years, Mr Green has had a few issues in different jurisdictions which have impacted its operations. For example, in the last three years, the gaming operator has received several fines in Sweden. Additionally, Mr Green was fined by the Netherlands’ gambling regulator, Kansspelautoriteit (KSA), after offering gambling products in the Dutch market without the necessary licenses. The then William Hill-owned company tried to appeal the fine, but the judge ruled in KSA’s favor.
The Bigger Picture
After the William Hill acquisition, it was expected that 888 Holdings would make a few adjustments in the near future to consolidate its position in the global gaming scene. Itai Pazner, the 888 Holdings CEO, recently stated that the gaming operator’s brand strategy would help them focus on successful brands depending on the market. He said in part:
Quote“We’re planning to take the best brands for each market, invest in them and then obviously reduce investments in brands that need to be rationalized and that have a lower potential in each market. This gives us an opportunity to put our resources behind the most successful brands with the highest potential for growth in each market rather than investing in all brands and all markets.”
Pazner further emphasized they would reduce resources to all brands with less potential in the gambling market in the fourth quarter of 2022. He commented that:
Quote“The brand choices are being made now and will be rationalised already in Q4 this year. So just to give a simple example, 888sport in the UK is a challenger brand coming from a very low market share base. And if you take that and work that out between all of the different markets, we feel we have a better way to grow sports betting in all of those markets, focusing the marketing investment and the product investments in a road map into a single brand in each of the markets, while keeping the other brands, I would call them secondary or tactical or removing them all together from the market.”
Thus, with the said strategy in mind, 888 Holdings has been working on expanding its business internationally to grow its global footprint. For instance, the Gibraltar-based gaming bigwig has recently spread its swings with launches in Africa and plans to re-enter the Netherlands in the fourth quarter. Speaking of the African market, since March of this year, 888 Holdings has set up shop in Kenya, Tanzania, Mozambique, and Zambia to tap into their lucrative sports betting markets.
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