SBC News Voice of the Sports Betting Industry
Veikkaus has inked a deal to become an official sportsbook of the NHL in Finland for the remainder of the current season and the upcoming 2023-24 season.
As part of the partnership, the Finnish government-owned betting company will have access to tailored hockey content in the aim of providing each customer an ‘enhanced and authentic’ experience.
Tuomo Torkkola, Relationship Manager at Veikkaus, commented: “The NHL is one of Veikkaus Betting’s most popular offerings.
“By officially partnering with the NHL, we will be able to bring more content from the world’s highest-level hockey league to our channels in the future.”
Furthemore, the operator’s channels will receive ‘unique and engaging’ NHL content. Meanwhile, the league will integrate Veikkaus into content designed for fans in the country on NHL.com/FI.
Also, VeikkausTV will allow its customers to watch and play along with live broadcasts of regular-season and postseason games, including the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
“We are thrilled to partner with Veikkaus to deliver premium NHL content that hockey fans in Finland crave,” added Joseph Stravato, Director of Business Development at NHL. “This partnership is one of the many ways in which we work to superserve NHL fans in Finland and grow our international fan base.
“Finns play big and visible roles in several NHL clubs, which interests our customers. Ice hockey is a very important sport for Veikkaus, and this collaboration expands our comprehensive ice hockey offerings even further. The NHL is a meaningful league with a number of Finnish stars for many of Veikkaus’ customers.”
Veikkaus has recently reported return profits of €680m to the Finnish state for 2022, matching its previous year’s performance despite its business facing a “challenging operating environment”.
Publishing its full-year 2022 accounts, Finland’s state-owned gambling and lottery operator generated group revenues of €1.07b, corresponding to a 2% on FY2021 results of €1.1bn.
The group’s lottery unit registered a ‘sluggish performance’, despite the full return of its lotto POS network as sales stood at €599m, down 4% on 2021 comparatives of €627m.
