William Hill makes Latam debut with localised Colombia launch

William Hill International has made its Latam market debut with the launch of the WilliamHill.co site in Colombia’s online gambling market. The newly launched domain is a William Hill-rebranded version of the BetAlfa website, the brand owned by Colombia-licensed operator Alfabet S.A.S, which was acquired by William Hill in December. Alfabet S.A.S holds the internet-operated games licence C-1611 and has been authorised by Coljuegos to offer online casino and sports betting games in the region since 2018. As part of the acquisition of the Alfabet business, staff working directly on the business have been integrated into William Hill’s main international hub in Malta. Aspire Global-owned sportsbook technology provider BtoBet will power William Hill’s player account management platform and sportsbooks software in Colombia. William Hill CEO Ulrik Bengtsson said he was thrilled to see the William Hill brand make its debut in Latam, especially given the short timeframe between acquisition and localised launch.

“We are delighted to have the Alfabet team join our international team and excited by the opportunity to deliver a very competitive product and safe player experience under the William Hill brand in Colombia,” Bengtsson added. William Hill now operates in nine regulated markets following this launch. A total of 17 operators are licensed in the Colombian market, with Betfair becoming the latest gambling giant to receive a licence from local regulator Coljuegos in February. The betting exchange operator offers online casino and sports betting to Colombian players through a localised version of the Betfair site. Elsewhere, Entain received a licence to operate a localised version of the bwin brand in December last year. The market’s dominant online brand, Wplay.co, has pursued an aggressive marketing strategy, particularly since partnering up with Playtech in 2019. Total wagers placed in the Colombian market rose 73% in 2020, with Coljuegos receiving COP94bn in licence fees from operators over the last 12 months, up 38% on 2019.