Webis Holdings pulls plug on betinternet.com
Firm says regulatory changes in core markets means one of egaming's longest running sportsbook brands is unlikely to be profitable in the long-term
Online gambling firm Webis Holdings today announced the closure of its betinternet.com brand after 15 years in operation due to “onerous” regulatory burdens introduced in core Asian markets.
The fixed-odds sports betting operation, which launched in 2000, will shut on Thursday 5 March in a move that will see most of the brand’s Isle of Man-based employees leave the company as it switches focus to its US pari-mutuel betting business.
The decision comes after authorities in betinternet.com’s main market Singapore last month introduced a ban on most forms of online gambling, significantly reducing the sportsbook’s customer base and throwing the profitability of the business into doubt.
Speaking to eGaming Review this morning, Webis Holdings managing director Garry Knowles said that betinternet.com would have continued to be profitable had prohibition not been introduced.
“The regulations had made it more difficult for us, particularly in Singapore which was a significant market for us and closed in February,” he said.
“It made it difficult to recover from that and although we knew it was happening, we didn’t have the ammunition to grow in other regulated markets,” Knowles added.
Webis Holdings said it had held discussions with a number of third-parties with regards to a sale of betinternet.com but with no deal agreed, the firm took the decision to close the sportsbook and focus on its US-facing Watch&Wager brand instead.
“There’s a lot of opportunity in that market, mainly because there’s a lot less competitors in the pari-mutuel online business in the US,” Knowles said.
“We think in the US it will be an easier route to market where we have a substantial B2B high-roller business and we’re now spending most of our focus on growing our B2C business with Watch&Wager,” he added.
Betinternet.com will repay all outstanding client balances and Webis will maintain a customer services team in the Isle of Man for the next month which Knowles said he was confident would like to “a clean withdrawal” for players.