Big Sports Betting Contract for Scientific Games

Scientific Games Corporation (SG) are one of the biggest names in iGaming and land-based gaming, having acquired massive brands like WMS, Barcrest and more, and they have just taken another leap forward after signing a contract that will see them gain exclusive access to an expanding betting market.

The deal will secure Scientific Games a 10-year exclusive contract with Iddaa, who are the only legal sports betting company in Turkey. The deal was processed through an SG holding company and will no doubt be the envy of many European sports betting and iGaming companies.

What it Means

This historic deal will allow Scientific Games to provide all of its turkey betting solutions to Turkish based betting companies. This includes over 5,000 points-of-sale, helping them to establish a massive sports betting operation in the country and to potentially change the face of offline gambling in Turkey for years to come.

Although Turkey isn’t typically considered to be a major betting market by the average non-Turkish punter, they actually have one of the most lucrative markets in the world. The country, which straddles Europe and Asia, is one of the three biggest sports betting markets in the world, making this a massive deal for Scientific Games and one that could set a very lucrative precedent for them.

“Thrilled”

The CEO for Scientific Games declared that he was “thrilled” at signing this deal and looked forward to being the “only sports betting concession in Turkey”. He also noted that Scientific Games have been expanding at a great rate over the last few years and this deal will be another big step forward for them, one that will see them establish ties with the Turkish government and could lead to similarly large deals in both Europe and Asia.

Prior to this deal taking place, the sports betting market in Turkey had been controlled by Intralot, who are based in Athens, Greece. They had been in control since 2004, but the contract was set to expire in August and that placed a big question over the Greek company’s future.

Shortly after the deal with Scientific Games was announced, Intralot actually confirmed that their CEO, Antonios Kerastaris, had resigned from his role. It was clearly a big loss for the company and one they may struggle to recuperate from.

According to reports, the Greek company were simply outbid. Scientific Games’s operator had initially offered a 2.1% share compared to the 0.5% of their rivals, but they soon dropped this to just 0.2%, and that was enough to secure the deal.