The online betting and gambling business is a very competitive one. That is why not all companies that set out to make a name for themselves succeed. But there are always those that manage to change the way people understand online gambling and betting. Two such companies are Unibet and the 888 holding sports betting platform, 888sport. These major industry players understood that in order to make it big they had to fight and make smart decisions.
Who Created 888sport?
The world of online betting and casinos has truly one of the most interesting and dynamic histories of any business sector. It is littered with tales of success, ambitious projects, revolutionary use of technology, and the dreams of people that wanted to make a name for themselves. This is why it is so hard for younger companies to stand out in such a fast-paced and start-studded company. But there always those who can. There will always be those companies that seized their opportunity for greatness.
One such company is the 888sport branch of the 888 holding empire. The company itself was founded in 1997 in the British Virgin Islands, with an Antiguan subsidiary obtaining a gaming license the same year. So, most of the companies moved to Antigua in order to further develop the project. Management offices, member support, gaming servers, and other functions were ferried to the Caribbean island. In May of ’97, the first platform of the company launched. Casino-on-Net was the first platform and proprietary product of the newly formed company. Since then, the company expanded and grew at a very fast pace thanks to the smart decisions taken by its managers.
The next step towards 888sport was obtaining a gaming license, in 2003, in Gibraltar in order to operate on the European market. The sports betting platform was launched in 2008 and quickly became one of the most popular sport betting sites in the world. With it, the 888 company now covered the entire spectrum of online betting and gambling: casino games, poker, sports betting and bingo.
The Growth of 888sport
After its launch, the 888sport platform, although technically still a part of the 888 holding company, took a life of its own. This was the case with all other sub-brands of the umbrella company. Through a series of smart investments and acquisitions, the company managed to expand and enter a lot more markets such as the US one. It started interacting and experimenting with other segments and expansion possibilities. This is why the company became one of the most recognizable and well-rounded ones on the market today.
It gathered over the years a serious collection of awards including winning the Best Operator of the Year at the 2013 eGaming Review Operator Awards. In the years that followed the company focused on developing their online presence and mobile gaming capabilities. In 2015 the company launched its retro-themed casino, 777, and entered several other European markets such as Denmark and Spain.
Like all companies, some changes have been done over the years. The most important one probably took place in 2016 when Itai Frieberger was appointed CEO and Brian Mattingley Non-Executive Chairman. Nevertheless, the company continued to expand and leave its mark on the online gambling and betting world. The latest move from the 888 HQ was the appointment of Itai Pazner as CEO in 2019 in order to be able to better deliver on the growth strategy he developed a year earlier when he was appointed COO of the company. Regardless of the changes made, the company remains steadfast on its course towards global recognition.
Creating Unibet
The Unibet success story is one that speaks to the determination and entrepreneurial spirit of most gaming and betting founders. The story begins in an Earl’s Court flat in London, where Anders Ström created his first company. After securing a betting license, the company started taking bets over the phone the following year. A year later, the first site was launched and after that, it all came down to the smart decisions of its managers. Pontus Lesse was appointed CEO of the new company and after being granted an international gambling license in Malta, the company started growing.
The newly founded Unibet Group PLC focused on developing its services over the next few years. They introduced multiple language support and ended up supporting 12 languages. That meant that more people from more countries could access their services and thusly become regular clients. By 2004, the company had already over 300,000 registered client accounts from over 100 countries. The same year the company went public, being listed on the Swedish Stock Exchange.
for the company, with some serious time and effort going towards its rebranding. The company changed its name and became the Kindred Group in 2016. Investment wise, they acquired Betchoice, a very popular company in Australia and Stan James Online. This played right in the company’s multi-brand development strategy. In November of last year, Unibet went live in Pennsylvania.
Increasing Unibet Visibility
The company flourished to be one of the most important in the online gambling and betting industry. Thanks to its numerous services and multi-platform development, it can now be considered among the greatest in the world. With over a million clients worldwide, the company is also one of the most acclaimed in the business. For instance, it won the 2020 award for its Marketing Campaign offered by eGaming Review. Not to mention being awarded the Socially Responsible Operator of the Year award by both eGaming Review and International Gaming Awards.
Unibet is also very visible when it comes to sponsorships. Among the most recent partnerships, there are two American sports teams, both with long and prestigious histories behind them: New Jersey Devils and the Philadelphia Eagles. Back in Europe, the company has partnerships with teams such as Paris Saint-Germain, Aston Villa, and Middlesbrough. They also started sponsoring Magnus Carlsen, a Norwegian chess grandmaster.