“We are greatly encouraged by the sales momentum for our omnichannel sports betting technology and managed trading services solution and anticipate a high-margin financial contribution as the economics of B2B sports technology provision are highly favorable and incremental to our existing B2B offerings,” Dermot S. Smurfit, President & CEO of GAN, said in a statement.
The GAN Sports launch comes more than a year-and-a-half after the company finished acquiring the parent company of Coolbet, a European online gaming platform operator, for nearly $176m. Tuesday’s GAN Sports launch continues plans announced at the acquisition to use Coolbet’s user interface and proprietary tech to introduce sportsbook offerings to land-based casino customers across the US.
“Following our 2021 acquisition of Coolbet we are thrilled to announce the premiere of GAN Sports, perhaps the most innovative sports experience available on-property anywhere in the US today,” Smurfit said in Wednesday’s release.
Yesterday’s launch of retail sports betting across 20 Internet-connected kiosks will shortly be complemented by the ‘Bet the V’ mobile sportsbook that bettors can access in the casino, according to the release. This mobile platform is enabled by GAN’s GameSTACK Player Account Management system for sports betting through retail kiosks and personal mobile devices while on-property. Mississippi law prohibits bets outside casino property.
GAN will also provide marketing and customer services, according to the release. The company is also prepared to launch a statewide mobile sportsbook and iGaming site if permitted under Mississippi state law.
Mississippi was one of the first states to legalize commercial casino gaming and the first in the Southern US. The Magnolia State also passed a sports betting legalization bill before the Supreme Court struck down the federal wagering ban, allowing in-state casinos to open sportsbooks shortly after the court’s May 2018 ruling.GAN President David Smurfit: “Following our 2021 acquisition of Coolbet we are thrilled to announce the premiere of GAN Sports, perhaps the most innovative sports experience available on-property anywhere in the US today.”
GAN’s sportsbook joins a crowded Mississippi retail sports betting marketplace that already includes US market share leaders DraftKings, FanDuel, Caesars and BetMGM. Many major US casino companies or their affiliates including Penn Entertainment and Bally’s also have a presence in Mississippi, which has one of the largest per capita casino markets in the US.
GAN Sports will join nearly 50 other branded sportsbooks across the US. Other tech providers such as Kambi and IGT have partnered with other commercial or Native American casinos to brand sportsbooks they power. Light & Wonder, another major US tech provider, spun off its sports betting tech platform as part of its rebrand from Scientific Games and a larger shift to focus on casino gaming.
GAN’s Mississippi launch is one of the first for a tech provider under its own brand name. It also comes as major sportsbook operators increasingly move their tech in-house.
DraftKings went public as part of a larger merger with sports betting technology platform SB Tech. Caesars sportsbook is powered by the tech behind William Hill, which parent company Caesars Entertainment acquired two years ago.
FanDuel’s online sportsbook is powered by tech from its European parent company Flutter Entertainment. BetMGM uses tech from Entain, which splits the sportsbook as part of a 50/50 joint venture with MGM Resorts.
Penn recently acquired theScore, partially for its in-house tech platform. TheScore Bet has completed the integration of its proprietary tech platform in Canada and expects to complete transitioning its technology to Penn’s US-focused Barstool Sportsbook by the end of next year.
