GiG close to confirming first sportsbook partner

Gaming Innovation Group (GiG) is set to unveil its first-ever sports betting partner imminently as it completes its transformation into a full service company.

The sportsbook was effectively soft launched through GiG’s B2C site Rizk in June and has attracted positive feedback from customers and the gaming industry at large. It consists of three services – GiG Sports Connect, GiG Trader and GiG Goal – which are offered as standalone or in unison.

The company, which was founded a decade ago, announced earlier today in its Q2 earnings presentation that a first external client is “close to signing”. 

GiG chief executive Robin Reed (pictured) explained to iGamingBusiness.com that the inaugural client will come on board alone initially as the company seeks to ensure a successful launch.

“Sports betting is the largest vertical in the industry, so it was clearly of interest for us,” said Reed. “However, it’s remained largely unchanged in many ways over the last decade or so.

“In developing our platform we have had the advantage of being able to produce a service from scratch, rather than the constraints of updating an existing product.

“We have been in dialogue with companies for the last two years as we have developed the product. We are very close to signing our first client, and we will deal with them alone in a controlled launch as we don’t want to take too much on and risk damaging our reputation.

“The reaction to the Rizk launch has been good and we have had a lot of interest.”

Keeping the customer satisfied has been GiG’s motto so far in 2018, with the company agreeing to not bring in any new clients during the development of its platform for Hard Rock Casino in New Jersey.

Now that period is over it is looking for new partnerships in Europe and North America. Reed admitted the company was “excited” by the recent repeal of PASPA, and this morning told investors that half of US states could legalise betting by the end of 2020.

Away from betting, the company is also in the process of launching its compliance tool GiG Comply and its first in-house game will be released in September.

“We have expertise so we are a very good match to new entrants in digital space in US,” Reed told iGamingBusiness.com.

“It has been a busy period of development for us. In the next six months we are looking to improving our products and increasing market share.”

Earlier today, GiG announced a 39% jump in overall operating revenues to €36.9m ($42m/£33m) during the three months to June 30. Operational costs and marketing expenses led to an almost 12% decline in EBITDA compared to the same period last year.