New partnership

Playtech has signed a partnership deal with GVC Holdings to help with the latter’s casino offerings. The gaming software giant will be working with GVC brands such as PartyCasino, partypoker, Sportingbet, bwin, CrystalBet, Foxy Casino and Foxy Bingo.

This expands Playtech’s presence into key GVC markets such as the UK, Italy and Spain. The UK brands Sportingbet and bwin will now exclusively use the Playtech casino tab, which is already in place with the Coral and Ladbrokes brands.

GVC’s customers will now have access to Playtech technology when playing casino games, bingo and poker. Casino players will now have more than 600 options for top games, plus access to branded games and progressive jackpots across various verticals.

Shay Segev, GVC’s COO, said of the deal: “Our strategic partnership with Playtech goes from strength to strength, driving growth in both of our businesses. Playtech’s content has already proved hugely popular with our customers where it is already live and we look forward to rolling it out in further markets over the coming months.”

Further market expansion

Over time, this partnership agreement will see GVC and Playtech spread their influence into other regulated markets. They already have begun rolling out their VistaBet and Sportingbet brands in Greece and Belgium. This expansion will continue throughout 2019 and into 2020.

Playtech is also looking farther afield, including partnering with a rapidly growing brand in Brazil called Betboo. It already has a presence in Colombia and Mexico, with the Latin America market set to explode in popularity in the coming years. This is a sector where a lot of operators will be turning their attention to, with the likes of bet 365 already making moves in the region.

Two industry behemoths

Both Playtech and GVC Holdings are major players in the gambling industry. Playtech has been around since 1999 and is listed on the London Stock Exchange. It provides technology for both the financial trading and gambling industries.

It is at the very top of the rankings with its various gambling technology offerings, delivering products and services for most forms of gambling. This includes sports betting, casino, live casino, poker, bingo and virtual sports.

Playtech has almost 6,000 employees in 17 different countries, with its headquarters located in the Isle of Man. The company entered the gambling industry as an operator following an acquisition in June 2018 – Snai, the top sports betting offering for both retail and online betting in Italy.

GVC Holdings owns many major gambling brands. These include the?Ladbrokes Coral Group, bwin, Sportingbet, Betboo, Gamebookers, VistaBet, partypoker and PartyCasino to name but a few.

The company was originally started in Luxembourg in 2004 and it became GVC Holdings in 2010. It has made a number of significant acquisitions in recent years, such as acquiring Ladbrokes Coral for up to $4bn. The company has lately been trying to improve the gambling sector’s image by highlighting key concerns about problem gambling.

Through its social responsibility program, it has called on the authorities to put an end to gambling companies sponsoring sports teams’ kits. GVC itself has stopped investing in sports sponsorships and pitchside advertising billboards.