This week in B2B news (03 March)

The Unit brings on board industry stalwarts Andy Clerkson and Rob Egan

The Unit has added industry stalwarts Andy Clerkson and Rob Egan as strategic adviser and business development director, respectively.

Clerkson’s career in the igaming industry started in 2007 when he founded the digital agency Grand Parade. There, he worked in the sports betting realm before the agency was acquired by William Hill in 2016.

After that, he spent time with The Stars Group and Fox Sports to aid in the set-up of FOX Bet in the USA. Clerkson was also the chairman of free-to-play sports game provider SportCaller, and is currently a partner at Tekkorp Capital.

He reunites with The Unit’s co-founder Paddy Casey, who worked with Clerkson at Grand Parade.

Egan also reunites with Clerkson after the two worked together at SportCaller. Egan spent time as head of free-to-play for North America at Bally’s Interactive after it acquired SportCaller in 2021.

On the onboarding of the pair, co-founder Casey said: “I am thrilled to add two such senior and successful industry executives to our team. Andy built a terrific business in exactly the space The Unit is in, and I had the good fortune to work with him there at Grand Parade and witness the incredible growth.

“Rob was instrumental in building SportCaller, the most successful free-to-play gaming company in the industry. Both have worked with global operators for many years, and I’m certain their eclectic know-how will allow us to continue to be industry leaders in product, both innovation and development, as well as MarTech, as we grow our worldwide footprint into new territories.”

Clerkson commented: “It’s a pleasure to link up with both Paddy and Rob again; we’ve had some brilliant successes together over the years. The Unit is an exciting proposition. Ever since Grand Parade was consumed by William Hill, there has been a lack of resources for specialist sports betting and igaming design and development, with front and backend disciplines all available in teams of anything from four to 40.

“Our industry knows that there’s a steep learning curve when it comes to building sports betting and gaming products, alongside working with large platforms. The Unit has the product smarts and the developer heft. I am relishing the chance to help Paddy and Rob scale this business up.”

Egan added: “With any supplier, it’s important to have a strong and experienced team to deliver quality products at scale, on time and add value. The Unit have that team and have been offering some of the best software in the gaming space, so this was an opportunity I could not turn down.

“They’ve already built up a strong track record over the past five years of operation and are the best-kept secret in the space, to my mind. Of course, I now look forward to changing that in my business development capacity, helping The Unit on their way to sustained growth.”

SIS enters the Polish market with Go+bet

SIS has agreed to deal its horse and greyhound racing content to Go+bet in Poland, marking its first launch in the market.

Go+bet customers will gain access to SIS’ premium live horseracing events from the UK and Ireland, as well as international meets from Canada, Dubai, Germany, Hungary, various countries in Latin America, Mauritius, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, Spain and the US. In addition, the operator has launched UK, Irish and Mexican greyhound racing.

Bartlomiej Michalek, commercial manager, UK and Europe at SIS, said: “This is a landmark deal for us as we launch our content in Poland. It allows us to significantly strengthen our reach in Eastern Europe and will put the finest high-frequency betting opportunities in front of an increased number of bettors.

“Partnering with Go+bet is another important step forward in our efforts to expand across this emerging market and once again illustrates the ability of SIS to deliver cutting-edge and revenue-driving content to operators.”

Mateusz Banaś, COO at Go+bet, added: “We are delighted to have signed this deal with SIS as part of our continued aim to bring unique, high-quality content to our customers in Poland from all over the world, setting us apart from our competitors.

“With races at any time of day to choose from, our position in the market in Poland is set to be significantly enhanced, and we’re confident our bettors will be excited at the betting opportunities that will be available to them.”

Pragmatic Play expands MrQ partnership

Pragmatic Play has furthered its partnership with UK operator MrQ to include the supply of live casino games.

MrQ now has access to Pragmatic Play’s collection of live casino titles. These include classic games like blackjack and roulette as well as immersive game shows like Sweet Bonanza Candyland and PowerUP Roulette.

Irina Cornides, COO at Pragmatic Play, remarked: “We’re delighted to be powering up new possibilities of play for MrQ with the addition of our market-leading live casino content.

“Pragmatic Play has established a fruitful relationship with the UK operator to date, and we look forward to growing our partnership even further as we add live casino to our supply of premium slots.”

Savvas Fellas, CEO at MrQ, added: “Having the full suite of Pragmatic Play content was a natural progression in the offering on MrQ.

“We had already been working with the studio, and we are always happy when we get to work with partners that share our own mission of offering progressive, value entertainment – with delight and transparency.”

Octoplay goes live with Soft2Bet

Octoplay’s first five titles are now available to players across Europe with Soft2Bet following a direct integration.

Soft2Bet holds licences in Malta, Sweden, Denmark and Ireland and operates over 10 of its own casinos and sportsbooks, including YoyoCasino, CampoBet, LightCasino, ZulaBet and Cadabrus.

Carl Ejlertsson, CEO of Octoplay, commented: “This deal will place our games in front of thousands of new players in regulated markets and is an important early milestone for Octoplay.

“That a successful casino group and platform provider like Soft2Bet is excited about taking our games is a testament to the quality of our games and our unique product vision. We look forward to this being among the first of many deals in 2023.”

Daniel Mitton, director of gaming at Soft2Bet, added: “Octoplay has been turning heads in the industry since its launch, and we’re delighted to be among the early adopters to get our hands on the games.

“The partnership aligns with our long-term ambition of building a premium portfolio of titles featuring the very latest in gaming technology and innovation.”

BETER become esports provider for Fortuna Entertainment Group

BETER has extended its partnership with Fortuna Entertainment Group (FEG) to provide the operator with an esports odds feed and full esports events and tournament coverage.

BETER covers 25,000 live events a year, and now FEG customers can access a wide range of tournaments with more markets and the highest possible uptime.

BETER has been working with FEG since 2020, providing the operator with 24/7 in-house tournaments called ESportsBattle.

Evgeniy Bekker, BETER esports general manager, said: “We are delighted that FEG has chosen us as its esports odds supplier. Working with leading operators gives us an excellent opportunity to continue driving the igaming industry with the best possible esports betting product.

“I am confident that our product will help FEG to enhance its position as a market leader whilst providing a significant boost to the quality of the services it brings to its customers.”

Polinský Tomáš, FEG head of trading operations, commented: “Throughout our time working together, BETER has proven to be a reliable and highly effective partner.

“We are very pleased with the results we have already achieved together and we’re excited to be taking our collaboration to the next level to ensure we are offering our customers the very best solutions available. We expect plenty more achievements and successes on the market with the professionals at BETER by our side.”

Yggdrasil partners with BoyleSports

Yggdrasil has partnered with BoyleSports in a multi-territory distribution deal.

Due to this partnership, Yggdrasil’s slots portfolio will go live across the UK and Ireland. This agreement sees Yggdrasil further its presence in mature European markets as the slots developer celebrates its 10th anniversary in 2023.

Andrew Pegler, chief commercial operations officer at Yggdrasil, said: “We’re thrilled to partner with BoyleSports, an incredibly well-known brand across the UK and other regulated markets. We want to join forces with established, forward-looking brands and BoyleSports is another strong collaboration for us.”

Steve Payne, gaming director at BoyleSports, added: “Yggdrasil has a proud history of creating cutting-edge, fan-favourite slots and we’re delighted to take its leading content live. We know our customers will enjoy this fantastic portfolio, and look forward to working with Yggdrasil for the foreseeable future.”