Amaya to expand its offerings
Euro 2016, the biggest football tournament in Europe, is the main sport attraction of the year.
France.- Amaya has applied for the sports betting licenses in Italy and France to operate bets during the Euro 2016 – the most relevant international football tournament in Europe–. The poker company has been offering sports betting services through its new brand BetStars and it is waiting for the expansion across Europe before June 10, when the competition starts.
“We are currently working with ARJEL –French Regulator of Online Games– and we are really hoping that this process with the regulator in France will be finalised before the Euro. The plan that we have is yes, we do want to have it before, but it’s really not up to us. It’s a process which is going on with the regulator in France,” explained Rafi Askenazi, interim CEO of Amaya. National gaming authorities are expected to make their decision in the following weeks, so BetStars can operate betting services for the Euro 2016, which lasts a month.
Italian sports betting market is on Europe’s top three, the third after the British and the German markets. The industry has been growing fast with total revenues that passed from €191.5 million –US$214.508.143– in 2013 to €278.7 million –US$312.457.958– in 2015. As to France, sports betting saw increased revenues of €272 million –US$304.946.410– last year, 30 percent more than in 2014, according to ARJEL’s data.
