Inaugural SBC Betting Forum provides Georgia market update

Former Adjarabet CMO Lasha Machavariani will provide an overview of gambling in the region of CIS and Georgia, the history behind the regulated market in the region, and an update on the major players and opportunities in the country at next week’s SBC Betting Forum.

A long-term ambassador for SBC Global, Machavariani is one of 15 leading industry speakers taking to the stage in the inaugural SBC Betting Forum (12 July), a dedicated one-day sports betting conference at this year’s iGaming Super Show in Amsterdam (11-14 July).

Machavariani believes that Georgia has become a ‘regional hub’ among the CIS countries and a ‘gateway to Eastern Europe’ for its local mentality, combined with increased internet and mobile betting penetration, a conducive environment for setting up a business and full regulation of the market.

Two years ago, Betsson acquired Georgian betting operator Europe-Bet for a consideration of $50 million. Machavariani doesn’t exclude to see other international operators following Betsson’s lead into the market, but warned: “I think that first, they need to analyse Betsson case, with its mistakes and improvements”.

“The proper results and analysis of this acquisition case is really very important for strategic decisions. As a market expert, I do have my objective opinion of Betsson performance, which I will present during the conference”

Also the analyses of Russian, Kazakhstan, Ukrainian and Belarus gambling markets will be provided by Machavariani on his session together with the comparison of the business models with Georgian one.