Former Adjarabet CMO Lasha Machavariani will provide an overview of gambling in Georgia, the history behind the only fully regulated market in the region, and an update on the major players and opportunities in the country at next week’s SBC Betting Forum.
A long-term ambassador for SBC Global, Machavariani is one of 15 leading industry speakers taking to the stage in the inaugural SBC Betting Forum (12 July), a dedicated one-day sports betting conference at this year’s iGaming Super Show in Amsterdam (11-14 July).
Machavariani says that Georgia has become a ‘regional hub’ and a ‘gateway to Eastern Europe’ for its local mentality, combined with increased internet and mobile betting penetration, a conducive environment for setting up a business and full regulation of the market.
Two years ago, Betsson acquired Georgian betting operator Europe-Bet for a consideration of $50 million. Machavariani expects to see operators following Betsson’s lead into the market, but warned: “I think that first, they need to analyse Betsson case, with its mistakes and improvements.
“The proper results and analysis of this acquisition case is really very important for strategic decisions. As a marketing expert, I do have my objective opinion of Betsson performance based on the market data, which I will present during the conference.”
He also stressed that operators should not be put off by the relatively small population of the country, saying that GGR results from Europe-Bet proves the potential of the Georgia market.
“As we know from the public sources, in 2014 Europe-bet’s revenues amounted to $52.4 million, with online operations accounting for $40.8 million,” he continued. “So, if we just calculate total GGR, assume that Europe-bet was holding 30% on the market at that time, and that the market volume stayed the same, Georgia is a really special market in the region.”
Among the other confirmed speakers for the SBC Betting Forum are Guy Harding, Head of Commercial at Oddschecker, Meir Moses, VP of Business Development for Don Best Sports, Pinnacle Marketing Director Harry Lang, Betcart Chief Business Development Officer Monica Rangel, Jeevan Jeyaratnam of Super Soccer Oddsfeed, Sarah McChesney of Fresh8 Gaming and Adam Kalmanson, Co-Founder at Bookee.
Click here for more information about the SBC Betting Forum.
Source: SBC News
