888 to roll out major sportsbook platform upgrade in UK by end of 2020

888 has confirmed it will roll out its Spectate sportsbook platform in the UK by the end of the year following a successful debut in the Swedish market. The online casino and sportsbook operator provided the update in its H1 2020 financial results and confirmed a localised approach for the 888sport brand in each of its operating markets. EGR understands 888 has set a strategic goal of becoming a top-tier sportsbook operator over the next few years after analysts hailed its “phenomenal” first half performance across verticals including online casino and poker. Spectate was developed out of the former BetBright business, which 888 acquired for £15m in March 2019. 888 rolled out its 888sport.se domain in the Swedish market in April 2020 following a 12-month integration and has been “encouraged” by customer feedback following the resumption of major sports events in June. 888 enjoyed a stellar H1 in Sweden, where revenue increased 123%. The London-listed operator also confirmed that Spectate would launch in the US in H1 2021. In addition, 888 is developing ‘Upfor8’, a free-to-play prediction game similar in concept to Sky Bet’s ‘Super 6’ classic. “We’re very excited about our prospects in sport in general,” 888 CEO Itai Pazner told EGR. “This will be a significant milestone for us in that we are moving around 70% of our business onto the new platform. “There’s a lot of AI and personalisation and it’s going to be a very fast and responsive product. We know how fast you are and how responsive your site is extremely critical for sports bettors. “We’ve made a huge effort to make it load as fast as possible, making it slick and intuitive and obviously have all the regular features that UK sports bettors are used to,” he added. In tandem with the Spectate rollout, Pazner revealed that 888’s Poker 8 app will also be launched across key European markets by the end of 2020. The app was soft launched earlier this year, having been in development for the last two years. “We launched it in test mode in July, it’s still running in test mode in a few countries and on a few of the software versions and showing really, really positive responses,” Pazner said. The launch will coincide with a new “made to play” marketing campaign towards the end of the year.