LOT T E RY
SPORTS BETTING
After Scientific Games’ JV swooped in to win the Turkish sports betting tender, Kio Dawson asks if these deals with state-owned operators are the biggest in town right now
Big game hunting IN EARLY MARCH 2019, Scientific Games’ joint venture Sans Girisim won an exclusive 10-year IDDAA contract to operate sports betting in Turkey for the Spor Toto State Organization, one of Europe’s largest stateowned sports betting operators. As competitive tenders go, this was a big one. Intralot’s Inteltek joint venture with Turkcell had held the tender for the past 15 years. It was such a big deal that Intralot CEO Antonios Kerastaris resigned after missing out. Big deals like this don’t come around that often. Most of the time, the state-owned operator is more inclined to extend its current supplier’s contract rather than switch supplier completely. Up until mid-February, Intralot still believed it was in the running to win Turkey’s new 10-year betting concession, after submitting a final bid for the tender. But Scientific Games and JV partner Demirören Group had 48
other ideas, and were announced as the winning bidders on 4 March. “Scientific Games has been following the development of the IDDAA sports betting business since its inception more than 15 years ago,” explains Scientific Games president of global strategic accounts Michael Conforti, who led the company’s efforts as part of the JV. “We spent the last year exploring our bidding options and focusing on finding the right local partner, which is key to success when exploring opportunities as large and complex as the IDDAA concession in Turkey.” That partner is Demirören, one of Turkey’s largest conglomerates, with annual revenue in excess of US$3bn and interests in manufacturing, construction, tourism, education and media, including Turkish newspapers Hürriyet and Milliyet. Conforti believes that the JV allows both companies to play to their strengths while
focusing on delivering a seamless transition in the eyes of the players, retailers, interactive channel partners and the Turkish government. “With our 2018 acquisitions of NYX/OpenBet and Don Best, Scientific Games prioritised the expansion of our interactive offerings and the growth of our global sports betting footprint,” says Conforti. “Although we are already the world’s largest B2B sports betting platform provider, the Spor Toto sports betting tender in Turkey fit with our vision and drive to power market-leading operators around the globe. “Winning this account is very important to Scientific Games, as it creates great momentum following our decision to invest heavily in this very important and fast-growing market sector.” Intralot’s Inteltek JV with mobile phone operator Turkcell had held the IDDAA sports