Entain exits 140 markets for regulatory assurance

[The Buzz]

Entain has officially announced its withdrawal from 140 markets as part of its commitment to fulfill new corporate responsibilities and meet investor obligations. According to a Financial Times report, the company disclosed in an internal document that it has exited markets lacking regulatory frameworks, including Antarctica and Vatican City.

The move aligns with the FTSE100 company's strategy following an agreement with UK prosecutors, finalized in December of the previous year. This agreement is tied to an ongoing investigation by British authorities into Entain's Turkish subsidiary, Headlong Limited. It is anticipated that further market withdrawals will be initiated as part of this ongoing process.

From the Financial Times article:

Entain’s chair Barry Gibson also emphasised its success in withdrawing from more than 140 unregulated markets at its most recent trading update in November, saying it was “the right thing for the business”. An internal tracking document maintained by

Entain’s compliance team, seen by the Financial Times, shows that along with Antarctica and Vatican City, other territories with a permanent human population of less than 1,000 people helped make up the total of 140-plus unregulated gambling markets that the bookmaker exited. These included the Pitcairn Islands, the French Southern and Antarctic Lands, and the United States Minor Outlying Islands.

Greg Johnson, an analyst at Shore Capital, said: “I struggle to see why it’s a great achievement to move out of markets you either weren’t ever really in or shouldn’t have been in the first place”.

Entain’s plan to close unregulated markets, which was first announced in November 2020 and completed at the end of last year, was known internally as “Project Sunrise”. According to the internal spreadsheet, Entain officially exited more than 100 other markets on December 17 2020. Subsequent rounds of market exits occurred between 2021 and 2023.

Read more here: https://www.ft.com/content/479b761f-...4-1416d3c501ae

[bpmee]

Wow, exiting the Pitcairn Islands must have been rough. With <70 people who are mostly subsistence farmers and fisherman, it's a token offering to satisfy the regulators. Similarly with Antarctica and The Vatican City, two big time online gambling hubs.

Please excuse the sarcasm if any of these were truly places businesses could setup servers and legitimately conduct business. There was a time when the Principality of Sealand (population 2) setup gambling servers on its platform in the North Sea .

[NoDepositCasinos]

It seems more like a peace offering to try to get around the regulations. 140 markets sound like a lot, but not all markets are the same (not to mention that in some of them, their presence had to be virtually non-existent).

[bpmee]

Antarctica has a few penguins with big time bucks who used to win a lot of fish playing blackjack. With Entain gone, looks like it's back to swimming and raising their young in one of the most hostile environments on Earth.