Bwin.Party to Split White and Grey Market Activities?

According to the Financial Times, the bwin.party gaming group is to divide its business operations, having different branches in the regulated white and the so called gray markets.

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In order to “attract a broader investor base” and to position the company as a “target for casino operators keen to take advantage of US legislation”, bwin.party is reportedly considering splitting its business operations. Different branches would operate within the regulated markets and in the grey areas, where no final regulations has yet been introduced.

The company has announced in the past months that they would shift their focus to the regulated markets, reducing their .com market presence [4] by not allowing new members to sign up from the unregulated markets in Europe, as of 30 April. While holding licences in Spain, Italy, Denmark, France and Belgium, the gross income of the company suffered a 17% loss [5] after abandoning the 18 markets (or at least blocking new sign-ups).

Now, the company looks for additional areas to expand to, including striking sponsorship deals with several sports clubs in Belgium, the United Kingdom, Germany, Italy and Spain. Moreover, as there are still grey areas they cover with their operations, and still offering online gaming in the aforementioned 18 countries for existing users, bwin.party decided to split their operations.

While this would allow the company to be able to enter the US market upon its regulation, it also signals their unwillingness to abandon such profitable markets, even if they are not entirely legal to operate in, as well as the limited success of re-focusing the company’s operations.