Stockholm-based gambling operator Betsson is drastically reducing its UK footprint, consolidating its business into just one brand.

The company says it intends to hand back three of its four UK licenses, and is withdrawing eight of its nine brands, including Betsafe UK, CasinoEuro, Jackpot24/7, RaceBets, and Kaboo. 

Betsson says the affected brands have already ceased normal operations and are no longer accepting bets or deposits. The operator has promised that all deposit balances will be returned and all outstanding bets will be paid out as winning bets. 

Going forward, Betsson’s UK operations will fall solely to its Rizk brand, which was acquired from GiG earlier this year. 

Presently the UK accounts for just 3% of Betsson’s revenue, and the company has said the constantly changing regulatory environment in the country, which requires significant investments to remain compliant with, is not sustainable. 

Overall, the move is intended to “increase efficiency and have a positive impact on the contribution from its UK business,” and will allow it to focus better on growing in other markets. Indeed, the brands being withdrawn from the UK will be kept in its portfolio for use in other countries. 

AYO.NEWS says:

Betsson has been slowly drawing down its UK presence for several years, including closing its offices there in late 2018, but the announcement that it is streamlining to just one brand is a more drastic move than many expected. 

However, to those familiar with the absurd regulatory environment in the UK – with the UKGC constantly moving the goalposts and the ASA repeatedly making illogical and inconsistent rulings about advertising – Betsson’s position is quite understandable. 

After all, there are now much bigger fish to fry. Illustrating this, earlier this month, Betsson entered an agreement with Scientific Games, covering the provision of the OpenTrade platform in the United States. 

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