Former IGT chief plots UK sports betting launch

US-based mobile technology company iPro plans to bring its recently launched real-money and social in-play sports betting app to the highly competitive UK market.

Ringit! is the first product developed and launched by iPro, which was founded by former head of interactive at IGT Robert Melendres (pictured) and a number of other industry veterans.

Ringit! allows players to compete in real-time by predicting the next play, drive, score and other match events from their mobile devices while watching NFL contests.

Players can i make picks against their friends for fun using virtual chips, or play against the field for cash prizes in territories where real-money gaming is legal and regulated.

But speaking to eGaming Review yesterday, Melendres said he planned to launch ringit! in markets outside of the US, with Europe and the UK the “next logical step”.

He also said ringit! would expand the number of sports it offered contests on, with football a “must” when launching on the other side of the Atlantic.

“When we go into Europe there will be other sports that are important such as football, or soccer as we call it here in the US,” Melendres told eGR. “Those sports must be part of the suite of products,” he added.

Ringit! allows players to seamlessly swap between real-money and virtual currency wagers depending on the gaming regulations of the jurisdiction they are wagering from.

But Melendres believes ringit! will still have a place in European markets where real-money in-play sports betting is legal in most countries.

“I do see ringit! having a place in the UK market because we are going to do it differently than what is currently being offered in the UK – we have to do it differently.

“It offers an immersion into the game itself in a way that no one else has really done to date, and its difficult stuff to achieve from a technical perspective,” Melendres added.