International expansion will follow product overhaul, mybet CEO says
Chief executive Sven Ivo Brinck tells eGaming Review the operator's product "isn't strong enough" for European expansion yet, but eyes Netherlands launch
German operator mybet is committed to international expansion despite withdrawing from Spain and looking to sell its Italian business, chief executive Sven Ivo Brinck said.
While the operator remains “extremely focused” on its native German sports betting market, Brinck said the firm must look towards international markets if it is to remain competitive, with the Netherlands one such market mybet could look to enter as soon as it regulates next year.
“For us it’s really important that we diversify our risk a bit more and we are active in more markets, so we’re strongly looking at other markets and discussing which of those could be entered,” he said.
Talk of international expansion comes despite mybet selling its loss-making Spain-facing business Digidis and three months after the firm announced its intention to sell its underperforming Italian business, with Brinck having admitted the operator to have found the market “tough going”.
Speaking to eGaming Review after last week’s H1 results disclosure, Brinck said his firm’s product suite must first improve before it looks to enter new jurisdictions and said it “really isn’t strong enough at this moment in time”.
Having divested its lottery businesses, mybet is renewing its focus on sports betting and casino and is currently in discussions with several suppliers and content providers as part of an ongoing restructure of its online offering.
Brinck revealed the firm had invested significantly in ensuring previous issues with platform stability had been resolved, and added mybet had recorded 99.9% availability during the first six months of the year.
“It’s small progress but we’re starting with it, and it really becomes relevant when you take into account the overall decisions regarding our restructure,” Brinck said.
One of the next products to launch will be the next generation of mybet’s mobile site which Brinck expects to launch in the coming weeks, with customer communications another major priority.