Gaming technology provider Scientific Games Corporation (SGMS) has forged a new sports betting relationship with the Netherlands’ state-owned lottery ahead of the country’s liberalized online market launch.
On Thursday, SGMS announced that it had reached a deal with the Nederlandse Loterij (NLO) to offer a digital sports betting solution for both mobile and desktop devices. NLO currently holds a sports betting monopoly in the Netherlands but the company is aware that a whole raft of online gambling competitors are spoiling for a fight.
The Netherlands’ liberalized online gambling market is set to get underway on January 1, 2021. The government approved the necessary legislation earlier this year and the Kansspelautoriteit gaming regulatory body is expected to start the licensing process next summer.
In preparation for that magical day, SGMS – which already provides NLO with its OpenPlatform player account technology and a variety of instant lottery products – said Thursday it will start building NLO a digital betting offering on the foundation of the SGMS OpenSports technology platform and utilizing the OpenTrade managed trading service.
NLO sportsbook director Sam Deporteere said the new “seamlessly connected” digital wagering product will help the lottery “gain new players and keep our existing bettors engaged.” SGMS digital sportsbook and platform VP Keith O’Loughlin said sports betting was “currently positioned at the core of global growth for the lottery and gaming industry” and called OpenSports “a natural fit” for NLO.
SGMS unveiled its OpenSports technology suite this spring, bringing its popular OpenBet wagering solution together with OpenPlatform, OpenTrade (powered by SGMS offshoot Don Best Sports), the OpenEngage digital interface and the OpenAccelerate day-to-day management tool for player acquisition, retention and engagement.
SGMS is having a decent year on the new signings front, having recently launched online and land-based sports betting technology for Turkey’s state-run national lottery operation as part of a joint venture with an affiliate of local conglomerate Demirören Holding.
SGMS is proving less successful in impressing stock analysts after reporting declines in both revenue and earnings in the first half of 2019. The company blamed the downturn on slower than expected sales of gaming machines to North American commercial casino operators.
