EGR Power 50 2021: 30-11

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30. SKS365 Group (30)

A non-mover in 30th place, SKS365 topped off the year by winning the casino operator of the year category at the EGR Italy Awards after two years of turbulence caused by the pandemic which saw retail operations severely hampered. SKS365 was one of many firms to implement a flexible working strategy for its employees with its Work.Live.Play scheme allowing for remote working and a greater work-life balance. The firm’s chief people officer, Brian Dean, said the scheme would provide no obstacles to employee careers and aspirations should they choose to work remotely.

29. Kaizen Gaming (32)

Kaizen Gaming is one of those operators that has made the most of a challenging past 12 months. With the construction of ultra-modern headquarters just outside Athens to hold over 800 staff, the company is scaling for growth. The Stoiximan and Betano operator has also had its eye on the ball in terms of football sponsorships, with deals inked with leading clubs including Sporting Lisbon, FC Porto and Benfica in Portugal, along with Fluminense and Atlético Mineiro in Brazil. Meanwhile, Betano was granted a licence to offer online sports betting in regulated Germany in February.

28. Svenska Spel (29)

There was welcome light at the end of the Covid-19 tunnel for Swedish operator Svenska Spel as the firm headed into H2 2021 with its retail operations finally reopening following the easing of social restrictions. Q3 saw the firm post a 7% YoY uptick in NGR from its sports and casino business and report that its digital business accounted for 47% of total revenue. In February, the former monopoly operator launched a new DraftKings-powered sportsbook platform in the Swedish market, offering new functionality including bet builder and cash out. Elsewhere, the firm was able to welcome back former employee Per Carlander as its new CPO for sports and racing in August.

27. Yolo Group (27)

Yolo Group, formerly Coingaming Group, finds itself nestled in the EGR Power 50 for the fourth consecutive year following the crypto-first operator’s major rebrand and structural realignment. The rebrand saw the company, which is behind products such as Bitcasino, Slots.io and Sportsbet.io, divided into five distinct verticals spanning B2C operations, B2B business, investment opportunities, blockchain activities, IT and back-office services. The move is the cornerstone of CEO Maarja Pärt’s tenure after she stepped up to the role to replace outgoing Tim Heath in September 2020. During her time, she has also placed women in C-level positions throughout the group, including COO Anita Brinke and new head of the B2B division Christine Lewis who joined from Pariplay in October.

26. BetVictor (14)

The Gibraltar-based bookmaker has been shunted down the Power 50 from 2020 after having a relatively quiet year in terms of big industry updates (not always a negative thing). Yet with a chunk of its revenue derived from the largely unregulated continent of Asia, this has impacted BetVictor’s position. The operator made headlines last year after signing a major media deal with German tabloid newspaper Bild in October 2020. The partnership supported BetVictor going live in the regulated German market in July via its BildBet brand. BetVictor also saw a change of management in the senior team with former William Hill head of regulatory compliance Dan Marsden joining the company in April as its new head of business compliance.

25. Celton Manx (20)

Isle of Man-based Celton Manx retains its presence in the top half of the Power 50 rankings after a successful first season as the front-of-shirt sponsor for Premier League side Leeds United under the SBOTOP brand. Aimed at a lucrative Asian audience overseas with extensive Premier League coverage, the online brand continues to operate successfully in the region. In fact, EvenBet Gaming integrated the low-margin SBOTOP sportsbook into its online offering to further expand the brand’s reach. Since 2008, the firm has and is still being run by gaming industry veteran Bill Mummery, who although preferring to avoid the limelight, has managed to steer the firm to a 25th place finish in this year’s table.

24. Rank Group (22)

Rank Group this year dropped two positions to 24th as the company faced financial hardships due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The Maidenhead-based multi-channel operator reported NGR decreased by 48% to £329.6m in its preliminary results for the 12 months ended 30 June 2021 as its land-based properties were closed during lockdown periods. In terms of staff changes, earlier this year the operator hired William Hill finance director Janice Duncan as its new CFO, alongside former Microgaming casino product lead Cyrus Moreno as the new head of game strategy to oversee strategic initiatives at Rank’s digital arm, which encompasses the Mecca and Grosvenor digital businesses. Meanwhile, last year Rank Group raised £70m in new capital following the issuance of almost 77 million new shares in the UK casino business.

23. Tombola (24)

The fact that Flutter pounced on tombola in November in a deal worth £402m underlines the operator’s powerful position in the UK’s online bingo sector. Phil Cronin, who launched the business two decades ago, is a notoriously media-shy gambling chief and, therefore, this bingo-led operator has historically been a rather opaque business run from Gibraltar and its HQ in Sunderland, which, incidentally, is regularly voted one of the best places to work in Britain. However, Flutter’s announcement, in which it dubbed tombola as “the UK’s most recreational online bingo operator” on account of its low-staking bingo proposition, revealed it achieved pro forma revenue of £164m and EBITDA of £38.5m in the financial year to the end of April 2021. What’s more, over 80% of its fully regulated revenue is derived from the UK, with 16% from Italy and Spain, while tombola recently gained a licence in the Netherlands. It also boasts 400,000 average monthly players, Flutter divulged. The question now is whether Flutter migrates its Paddy Power, Sky and Betfair bingo offerings onto tombola’s proprietary platform. That could really shake up bingo’s status quo.

22. Sisal (26)

Sisal’s rise to the top of the Italian market was cemented in October as the Milan-based firm secured the operator of the year award at the EGR Italy Awards for the second year running. Sisal added a further four gongs to its haul at the in-person ceremony held in Rome after scooping awards for customer services operator, lottery operator, in-house product innovation and socially responsible operator. In June, Sisal demonstrated its commitment to innovation by unveiling a new tech lab in Turin to explore the use of AI in responsible gambling solutions. Outside of its Italian heartlands, Sisal continues to eye foreign lottery opportunities to add to its existing portfolio in Turkey and Morocco. In fact, Sisal is one of the firms in the running for the fourth UK National Lottery licence, set to be confirmed next year. It faces off against current holders Camelot, Sazka’s UK-facing brand Allwyn, and an unknown competitor.

21. Playtech (18)

At the time of writing, Playtech is in the middle of a bidding tug-of-war with a £2.7bn offer already on the table for the FTSE 250 business from US-focused supply giant Aristocrat. JKO Play, a business led by former F1 boss Eddie Jordan and industry veteran Keith O’Loughlin, is the other suitor still battling it out after Hong Kong’s Gopher Investments withdrew from the running amid media reports of a £3bn bid. In September, Playtech agreed to offload its financial trading division, Finalto, to Gopher as part of efforts to simplify and focus purely on its tech-led offering in its core B2B and B2C gambling arms, the latter of which includes the brands Titanbet, HPYBET and Snaitech. When it comes to Snaitech, its online division recorded 95% revenue growth YoY in H1 to €123.4m, while adjusted EBITDA jumped 118% to €72.6m as the operator capitalised on customers switching to online in Italy amid retail closures caused by Covid-19. Finally, Playtech’s share price has more than doubled over the past 12 months – partly due to a potential sale – swelling the 22-year-old supplier’s market cap to £3bn.

20. Pinnacle (16)

Long heralded as the gold standard of global sportsbooks thanks to its singular high-volume, low-margin business model, Pinnacle has never been one to rest on its laurels. The award-winning operator based out of Curaçao accordingly allocated a surplus of its 2021 attention to the continued development of two key verticals in the space: esports and in-play. On the latter front, Pinnacle partnered with Las Vegas-based start-up DeckPrism Sports to begin integrating the in-play odds originator’s industry-leading live betting product. Pinnacle also placed an emphasis on its esports offering, rolling out the ‘Pinnacle Cup’ – a flagship tournament series that has already been staged twice this year. Ongoing exposure to grey markets, particularly in the Far East, has had a bearing on Pinnacle’s position in the rankings.

19. STS Gaming Group (21)

STS continues to be a powerhouse in its native Poland, having cornered almost half the market despite the country’s online segment being plagued by unlicensed gambling sites, which the authorities have struggled to quell. This 24-year-old operator has also continued to stand out by investing heavily in esports over the past year; in February, an esports marketing campaign was unleashed to coincide with online esports tournament IEM Katowice 2021. Alongside investment in technological developments, STS unveiled a refurbished office space in the city of Katowice to house its growing tech team. Finally, this privately-owned online and off-line (400+ betting shops in Poland) operator looks set to morph into a public entity as the Juroszek family, who own the business outright, plot an IPO. It would make STS the only gambling company listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange.

18. Danske Spil (36)

Danske Spil takes a huge leap as this year’s highest climber, up from 36th in 2020 to the 18th spot. Danske Lotteri Spil, the lottery side of the business, reported Q3 revenue of DKK2.03bn (£229m), representing an increase of 5.8% YoY. Meanwhile, the betting and gaming side of the state-owned business (Danske Licens Spil) generated DKK1.36bn in revenue, largely attributed to the increased sporting calendar, aided by Denmark defying the odds to reach the semi-finals of Euro 2020. The Danish state-owned lottery, sports and gaming operator also reported a 2.9% increase in GGR and a 3.4% rise in profits in Q3. In total, Danske Spil’s profit before financial items stood at DKK1.59bn, up 3.4% YoY, with Danske Lotteri Spil contributing DKK1.39bn. Besides the financials, the decision was taken to shutter the SBTech-powered Youbet sportsbook in July, while Karsten Fogh Holanng was promoted to CEO of the Licens Spil division in November after serving as CIO since 2016.

17. Tabcorp (19)

Tabcorp’s year can be summarised in two words: strategic review. With the aim of returning value to its shareholders, Tabcorp embarked on a programme of potential strategic avenues including separating its wagering and media business from the lotteries and keno division. In February, Australian tongues were set wagging when the Antipodean operator revealed it was in discussions with Entain over the sale of its media and wagering arm. A protracted multi-billion-dollar bidding war began between Entain, Apollo and BetMakers that was only resolved when Tabcorp itself decided to proceed instead with a demerger, which has yet to take place. CEO David Attenborough, who has been at the helm since 2011, is due to step down once the demerger is complete. At a business level, the group reported an 8.8% YoY rise to A$5.7bn for its fiscal full year 2021, with growth in lotteries and keno as well as wagering and media offsetting continued Covid-19 losses in its gaming division.

16. Superbet (28)

Superbet climbs 12 places, due partly to its private financial results revealing a significant increase on last year’s performance. On top of this, the Romania-centric operator followed up its 2020 acquisition of online casino Lucky7 by securing a deal to purchase 100% of the shares in Belgian operator Napoleon Sports & Casino from Waterland Private Equity Investments in July. Superbet insisted the acquisition represented a “compelling strategic and financial rationale” as it looks to expand out of its Central and Eastern European heartlands. The company also cut the ribbon on a brand-new London base at 111 Buckingham Palace Road in Victoria that accommodates 75 UK-based staff. Operations, which were previously run from Warren Street, now include technology, trading, online, product, HR and finance at the new site, while a hybrid-working model has also been implemented.

15. Super Group (23)

Super Group’s online sportsbook, Betway, made significant strides this year to establish itself as a major operator both in Latam, Europe, Africa and the US. The big news this year was that the bookmaker’s parent company, Super Group, secured a $5.1bn SPAC merger with Sports Entertainment Acquisition Corporation in April as it became the latest operator to go down the so-called blank-cheque company route to the public markets. Super Group, which generated NGR of almost $770m in H1 2021 and has 2.5 million actives, also took its Betway brand live in the US after securing an original brand licence agreement with UK-based casino supplier Digital Gaming Corporation, before entering into an agreement to acquire the firm. While Super Group is licensed in 23 jurisdictions (excluding the US), the Betway brand has market access in 11 states across the pond and is live in five at the time of writing. The operator also continues to make good on its stance as a sponsorship superpower after having inked deals with NBA and NHL teams, and it maintains a comprehensive European football portfolio.

14. Betclic Everest Group (15)

Moving up one spot from last year is Betclic Everest Group, which operates brands such as Betclic and Germany-based online sports betting and gaming operator bet-at-home. In August, Betclic bolstered its marketing strategy after striking a sponsorship deal with the French Football Federation (FFF). The deal will last for five years and builds on the operator’s existing partnership with the French Professional Football League (LFP) as the official sports betting platform for Ligue 1 and Ligue 2. In the same month, the Bordeaux-headquartered operator made an investment into its product and data departments with the hiring of Joseph Wilkinson as director of data products and Bernardo Battistotti as director of analytics, both moving over directly from PokerStars. Meanwhile, bet-at-home reported H1 2021 revenue of €56.8m, 8.8% down on the prior year figure as a result of stricter regulation on its home turf. The firm also anticipates a 2021 EBITDA loss of €10m-€14m in connection with customer lawsuits in Austria over repayment of gambling losses from its online casino.

13. Lottoland (13)

2021 has proved to be a year of ups and downs for Lottoland, with the Gibraltar-based business successfully building out its product base, notably in the UK, where it expanded its sportsbook offering out to more markets just in time for the rescheduled Euro 2020. In April, Lottoland received approval from Google to launch its app in the Play stores in Sweden and Australia, bringing its Google Play app presence to four regions. Elsewhere, former 32Red financial chief Jon Hale joined as its new CFO in June. Later, in October, the firm strengthened its ESG credentials by becoming carbon-neutral and signing the Climate Pledge. However, the firm was fined £760,000 by the UK Gambling Commission in September for social responsibility and AML breaches, as well as dealing with a potential €10m German VAT tax headache earlier in the year. It therefore proves the old footballing adage: it’s a game of two halves.

12. Fortuna Entertainment Group (12)

Fortuna Entertainment is one of those companies that tends to fly under the radar, even if its state-of-the-art, 78,500 sq ft headquarters in Prague, which has won awards for its striking design and eco-credentials, dispels any suggestion the operator is the sector’s shrinking violet. Away from the limelight of Western Europe and the Nordics, Fortuna quietly goes about its business as a powerhouse in the Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) region, or more specifically the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland, Romania and Croatia. Aided by its retail network for online customer acquisition and omni-channel efforts, the digital side of the business has gone from strength to strength since Per Widerström took over as CEO seven years ago, he told EGR in a recent interview. He also disclosed that EBITDA at the privately-owned firm for the most recent financial year was €154m. While much of Fortuna’s growth has been achieved organically, M&A is a distinct possibility in the near future, as Widerström told EGR: “There are certain markets that we are interested in […] of course, it’s very important to get a good understanding of what is the normal baseline pre- and post-Covid when it comes to pricing.”

11. LeoVegas (10)

LeoVegas finds itself nudged out of the top 10, yet this mobile-first-mindset pioneer remains a significant player in the industry. Despite the challenges of the deposit and bonus restrictions in its home market of Sweden, LeoVegas reported a 12% year-on-year revenue increase for Q3 2021 to €99.4m, probably aided by the acquisition of Swedish legacy betting brand Expekt for just €5m in May. However, the firm stated that revenue increases would have amounted to 31% if not for the financial impact of tough German regulations. Staying a step ahead, LeoVegas is heavily investing in its safer gambling toolkit, including AI-powered safer gambling messaging and personalised deposit limits, as CEO Gustaf Hagman explained: “Safer gambling is one of our top priorities at LeoVegas.” In May, the operator signed a market-access agreement with Caesars Entertainment in New Jersey, with a launch in the ultra-competitive state earmarked for H1 2022.