Australian firm PlayUp has signalled its intention to capitalise on the lucrative U.S. sports betting market. The Australian company sees the U.S. market as their next growth frontier and have appointed gaming veteran Dr. Laila Mintas as Chief Executive Officer of its U.S. office. Dr. Mintas is tipped to provide a strategic voice to PlayUp’s global expansion and was Vice President at Sportsrader.
PlayUp’s growth in the Australian market left an impression on Dr. Mintas:
“I am very excited about the opportunity to establish PlayUp as a strong and innovative sports betting brand in the U.S. I am very impressed with what the team in Australia has established over a short time period.”
Dr. Mintas believes that PlayUp unique betting platform could give them an edge in the U.S.:
“PlayUp is very tech-driven; we own our proprietary fantasy and betting platform and our in-house risk and trading team which gives the company the power to control its own destiny. PlayUp has all the ingredients it needs to be successful,” Dr. Mintas said.
The Australian company has aggressively grown across Australia, New Zealand and India. PlayUp acquired five Australian betting companies and merged them under their global PlayUp banner. PlayUp CEO is determined to acquire a significant share of the U.S. sports betting market, and PlayUp has gained access to several legal online sports betting states in the U.S.
But it has had issues with regulators in the past, with a report in December showing the firm had unintentionally allowed services to excluded gamblers. Gamblers were allegedly allowed to use PlayUp services despite being on a self-exclusion list. The oversight has led to a change in Australian online laws, which means its now mandatory for providers to have a self-exclusion option for customers as part of their licensing agreement with regulators.
PlayUp Founder Daniel Simic believes the Australian company must capitalise on the opportunities in the online sports betting market in the U.S.:
“The U.S. is on its way to becoming the largest legal sports betting market in the world with an estimated revenue potential of over $17bn. PlayUp enters the market to get its piece of the pie. Dr. Mintas is a well-established and respected leader in the sports betting world and we are very happy to have her join us.”
