Kristian Nylén, CEO of Kambi, the supplier of online and land-based sports books, has spoken about the firm’s focus on the emerging US market in this week’s report for Q3 2018. The financials show revenue ahead by nearly 40 per cent year-on-year and turnover up more than 30 per cent in a third quarter that Nylén cited as ‘historic’.
In his update, he wrote: “In August, Kambi made its US debut and in doing so created history when becoming the first company to process a legal online bet in the country outside of Nevada, following the launch of New Jersey’s regulated market.
“We are already live with three brands in New Jersey – DraftKings, SugarHouse (Rush Street Interactive) and 888sport – which is not only a great achievement in itself but, according to the regulator’s recently released September figures, equates to Kambi-powered operators having a circa 70% share of the online market.”
He added: “It’s been a fantastic start in the US for Kambi, which I believe reflects an enthusiasm for the high-quality sportsbook experiences we offer, which we hope to bring to players in additional states shortly. I’ve recently returned from a major gaming exhibition in the US where, following our early success in New Jersey, the interest in Kambi was at an unprecedented level. It is for this reason we plan to continue to invest in areas such as talent, technology and licensing so we can maximise the opportunity presented by the gradual state-by-state roll-out of regulated sports betting across the country.”
The main body of the report also confirmed that Kambi plans to enter further US states where there is the demand and when local regulations allow. It noted: “In our Q2 report, we referenced five potential states – New Jersey, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Mississippi and New York. In addition to our transactional waiver in New Jersey, where we have subsequently launched, Kambi recently obtained a permit for West Virginia and is also in advanced stages of the licensing process with regulators in Pennsylvania and Mississippi, states where regulation has already been passed.
“In New York, the regulatory process is effectively on hold until the US mid-term elections on 6 November 2018, after which we see three likely scenarios: 1) an approval of existing law allowing four commercial casinos and three tribal casinos to offer land-based sports betting; 2) the passing of a new law enabling both retail and online sports betting; or 3) an agreement to enable retail to launch first with online to follow thereafter.”
The firm expects, in each scenario, that the market will open at some point in 2019 and is aiming to be one of the first to market. “Including New York, we expect up to 10 US states to regulate during the next 12-18 months, including Illinois, Indiana and Ohio,” it said.
