Betsson
| Type | Private limited company |
|---|---|
| Industry | Online gaming |
| Founded | 2001 |
| Headquarters | Ta' Xbiex, Malta |
| Key people | Ulrik Bengtsson (CEO BML Group ltd) Magnus Silfverberg (CEO Betsson AB) |
| Products |
Bingo, Casino, Games, Poker, Scratch cards, Sportsbook, owner = Betsson AB |
| Website | www.betsson.com |
Betsson Malta Ltd. is an online gambling company that offers online poker, online casino, scratch cards and sports betting. The company is headquartered in Malta and owned by the OMX listed public company Betsson AB.
Betsson.com is an online gaming site that offers the products Sportsbetting, Casino, Scratch, Bingo and Poker. The main office is located in Malta and the company is owned by the holding company Betsson AB. Betsson AB is listed on NASDAQ OMX Nordic Mid Cap List, (BETS B).
Betsson.com was founded by the Swedes Fredrik Sidfalk, Henrik Bergquist and Anders Holmgren. The technical development of Betsson begun in early 2001 and in April 2002, Betsson got their gaming license in London. The site launched in English and Swedish in May 2002. A month later, Betsson become one of the first sites in the world to offer Live betting on sports events online. Launches in Finland and Germany followed in 2003. Betsson's casino were also launched this year with over 20 different games. 2004 Betsson grew further and entered the markets in Norway and the Czech Republic in July the same year. During the same year Betsson also launched Poker together with the supplier Ongame.
In March 2005 Betsson reached 100 000 registered customers. The company grew further when the countries Turkey, Iceland and Denmark were added in the portfolio. In April 2005 the listed company Cherry AB bought Betsson.com that became a 100 % owned subsidiary. In the same year two new products was launched as a mobile solution; odds and poker. The mobile solution was made by a Java application.
In January 2006 the number of registered customers at Betsson was over 400 000. In the summer of 2006 Betsson's fifth product, the scratch card Trio, was launched. At the same time Betsson's head office moved from London to Malta. In December 2006 Betsson launched Poker in the Turkish market. In June Betsson was awarded as the best sports and games site of the year by Internet World magazine. 2006, Cherry changed its name to Betsson and Cherry Casino was distributed to the shareholders as dividend.
In March 2007, bingo was launched on the Swedish market. That same year a new loyalty program was implemented that rewarded the customers with points. A month later Live betting was launched in the Sportsbook. The following months Betsson entered four new markets: France, Greece, Italy and Spain.
Financial betting was launched in October 2007 under the name Betsson Trader, which expanded the product portfolio to nine products.
During the winter of 2008 Betsson reached the milestone of 1 million registered customers. The geographic expansion continued, and in the first half of the same year Betsson entered the Peruvian, Serbian and Dutch market. In July 2009, Betsson expanded its supply of scratch cards.
In May 2008, Betsson opened a betting shop in Stockholm. The Swedish Gaming Board ruled that the shop’s operations were in conflict with the Lotteries Act and demanded that the shop should stop promoting gaming activities. This decision was appealed by Betsson on several occasions and in December 2009 the Administrative Court of Appeal announced its decision that the shop should cease promoting gaming activities. However, after a further appeal, the Supreme Administrative Court announced that they had accepted Betsson’s claim for suspension of implementation, which in effect implied that Betsson, once again, had the right to undertake operations whilst waiting for a final decision. The shop was reopened in January 2010 but was again closed in September 2010 when the Supreme Administrative Court announced that they would not grant leave to appeal. On 22 December 2010, the shop opened for the third time, now in compliance with the Gaming Board’s injunction from 2008, which means that none of Betsson’s marketing designs or logotypes can be displayed in the shop.
2011 Magnus Silfverberg stepped up as CEO and took over after Pontus Lindwall. A Joint Venture was established in China and Betsson acquired the fast growing competitor Betsafe.
During 2012 Betsson acquired the competitor Nordic Gaming Group, due to its successful sportsbook. This established the strong position in the Nordics even further. Betsson was also awarded as the "Online Sportsbook Operator of the Year" by the International Gaming Awards.
During 2013 Betsson acquired the Automaten brands; SverigeAutomaten, NorgesAutomaten och DanmarksAutomaten, which thereby went from being a part of the business area B2B to become B2C brands. Betsson AB´s subsidiaries migrated betsson.com to the common platform Techsson.