SBC News Voice of the Sports Betting Industry
Entain Plc has communicated that it has exited 140 markets to comply with its new corporate responsibilities and duties to investors.
As reported this weekend by the Financial Times, Entain published an internal document stating its exit from markets with no regulatory regimes such as Antarctica and Vatican City.
The FTSE100 company is expected to initiate more withdrawals from other markets as part of an agreement with UK prosecutors signed into force last December in relation to an investigation by British authorities into Entain’s Turkish subsidiary, Headlong Limited.
Approved by Dame Victoria Sharp, President of the King’s Bench Division at the Royal Courts of Justice at the Crown Court of Southwark, the terms of the settlement included a £600m-plus penalty in addition to the bookmaker’s commitment to leave unregulated markets.
“We closed 140 markets where revenues ranged from significant to de-minimis at the time of exit, but where customers could bet with us,” the bookmaker commented.
Shortly after the probe, Jette Nygaard-Andersen resigned from her CEO role with immediate effect, as Entain undertakes a strategic review of its business and growth strategy
The Financial Times further reported that Entain’s internal estimates have shown that the markets targeted for exit have not generated any revenues so far and that this is unlikely to change due to the lack of a clear direction towards a potential regulatory framework.
A decision is still to be made by Entain whether to exit Brazil, Chile, Peru, and Mexico, in the 12-month period given to the gambling group by the dispute settlement.
However, recent developments in Brazil saw President Lula da Silva signing Bill PL3626/23 into law which paved the way for a regulated gambling market, with a total of 134 betting operators already queuing up for a licence.
Additionally, Entain recently gave a board seat to Ricky Sandler, who is also the founder of Eminence Capital – one of Entain’s top investors.
Sandler will be involved in choosing a non-executive Director under his term that will be “mutually agreeable to Eminence and the company”, to further help Entain with the reshaping of its business strategy going into 2024.
