Exclusive: Bet365 set to enter Russian sports betting market
Global betting giant registers Russia-facing web domain under locally licensed sports betting operator
Bet365 has embarked on the first step to establishing sports betting operations in Russia, EGR can exclusively reveal.
The online giant has registered the web domain bet365.ru with RU-center, Russia’s largest business web domain registry service.
It is understood bet365 will imminently receive approval from the Russian Federal Taxation Service, adding its domain to the pre-existing licence of GoldenBet, which is owned by separate licensee Bet Boom.
GoldenBet became a fully approved Russian sports betting brand in July 2018 and the firm currently operates two retail bookmakers in Moscow.
Bet Boom operates an open-ended licence to operate sports betting in the Russian market and has done since 2010. GoldenBet has its own separate sports betting licence and was added to the list of approved operators in May 2018.
It is understood the arrangement between bet365 and GoldenBet is similar to the process used by bet365 to enter the Mexican market in June 2019.
Under the terms of that deal, bet365 inked a partnership with local media operator TV Azteca, which initially received a 25-year licence to operate a sole sports betting site in Mexico in September 2018.
However, the licence was amended a month later to allow TV Azteca to operate either “individually or with one or more operators”, with the bet365.mx domain confirmed as TV Azteca’s preferred site.
EGR has learned that a similar situation exists in Russia. Bet365’s sports betting returns will be registered with the TSUPIS online monitoring system, which is mandatory for all online gambling operators in the country.
More than 33 sports betting operators are registered in Russia, including Parimatch, 1xBet and bwin.
4H Agency CEO Ilya Machavariani said the Russian online gambling market would benefit from having such a renowned global operator involved.
“This signifies two things: firstly that the Russian market is not so wild and complex as it seems, and secondly that the overall local industry landscape is going to become more competitive as a result.
“Competition is the best tool for market development,” he added.
Russia is currently in the process of a significant regulatory overhaul affecting all parts of the country’s sports betting market.
This process will see the creation of a new unified gambling regulator and a new unified TSUPIS system.
In July, the Russian State Duma adopted a bill requiring Russia-licensed sports betting operators to pay a new tax of 5% on GGR on a quarterly basis to Russia’s sports federations.
The tax, which previously applied to just Russia-based sports events, was extended to international events under the bill.
The bill also limited the types of events which can be offered by Russia-licensed betting operators.