Entain bets on esports with Unikrn acquisition
FTSE 100 firm issues statement of intent with deal for esports betting frontrunner and creation of new head of esports role
Entain has announced that it has acquired esports betting and media platform Unikrn for an undisclosed sum.
However, it was revealed the online and retail gambling giant plans to spend £50m, which includes the cost of purchasing Unikrn, to create an in-house esports betting platform.
Entain said it expects the transaction to complete later this year and that Unikrn will help the company to address the “exciting and growing” esports market which boasts 474 million viewers, the majority of which are aged 18 to 35.
Rather than using existing Entain brands or Unikrn, the plan is to launch a new esports betting brand and platform that “resonates in an authentic way with esports fans and the esports community,” CEO Jette Nygaard-Andersen told analysts and investors during Entain’s Capital Markets Day.
She also said Entain is fully committed to RG and that the esports betting offering would include “strong age-gating”.
Entain kicked the tyres on other esports betting companies but decided that Unikrn’s advanced product, as well as its technology and team, ticked the boxes.
Founded in 2014 by Rahul Sood and Karl Flores, Unikrn is a leader in esports wagering that claims to be the only place for video gamers to bet on themselves.
The Seattle-based start-up’s early backers include American billionaire Mark Cuban and actor Aston Kutcher.
Besides announcing the acquisition, Entain revealed that Justin Dellario has been hired as the company’s new head of esports.
Dellario joins from Amazon-owned video game streaming platform Twitch, where he spent more than five years as VP of global esports.
He will report into Sameer Deen, who recently joined the business as chief strategy officer and president of new ventures.
Justin Dellario joins Entain from Twitch
During the Capital Markets Day, Nygaard-Andersen also talked up the London-listed group’s ambitions around esports, social gaming and AR/VR.
Investors heard how the esports betting market is expected to grow to $12bn by 2025 and that Entain sees a big opportunity to tap into so-called skill-based wagering, in other words players betting on their own performances.
Nygaard-Anderson said: “One exciting opportunity is the growing esports skill-based wagering market.
“We are building the first scalable platform to address this market and I am delighted that Justin Dellario is joining us to lead our growth in this new area.”
The CEO also stressed that Entain believes it can have a “first-mover advantage by building an integrated platform that can scale across multiple countries”.
The acquisition-hungry firm is also building a first-of-its-kind ‘Sports Club’ experience, allowing customers with a Quest 2 VR headset to compete in various games and watch live sports streams.
As well as this, Entain is looking to leverage its live in-house games content studios to capitalise on the social casino opportunity, which is expected to swell from $5bn to an $8bn market by the end of 2025.
Entain today reported a 27% constant currency uptick in online net gaming revenue (NGR) to £1.59bn for the first half of 2021