Founder of easyJet launches easyBet with Matchbook partnership

[The Buzz]

Billionaire entrepreneur Stelios Haji-Ioannou, known for his "Easy" brand (easyJet, easyHotel, etc.), is launching a new online sports betting platform called EasyBet.

This venture is a partnership with Matchbook, the Alderney-based gambling firm owned by renowned gambler Zeljko Ranogajec. Matchbook, operating under Triplebet, is making a comeback after a 2020 license suspension.

From The Guardian:

The Gambling Commission, which regulates the betting and gaming industry, suspended Triplebet’s gambling licence for six months in 2020 and fined the company £740,000, citing failings on player protection and anti-money laundering controls. Its compliance systems have since been overhauled.

At the time, Triplebet’s majority shareholder is understood to have been Matthew Benham, a gambling entrepreneur who also owns Brentford FC. Benham continues to hold a minority stake in the business.

Triplebet, which Ranogajec owns via an Isle of Man-based entity called Newfoundland Limited, has a “white label” deal with EasyBet.
White labels allow newcomers to the UK betting scene to piggy-back on to the online architecture of a company that already holds a licence to take bets in Great Britain, stamping it with their own branding such as the EasyGroup’s distinctive orange livery.

Matchbook will pay a licence fee to use the Easy branding, echoing similar deals struck by betting firms with Sky, Virgin and the Sun newspaper.

The white label system has frequently been used by overseas firms to obtain a British licence, a requirement for operators that want to advertise on Premier League football shirts.

Haji-Ioannou, who founded the budget airline easyJet in 1995, said investing in betting was “a natural new market to complement our other large consumer brands”.

Read more here:https://www.theguardian.com/business...sports-betting

[Pokerface]

Interesting, I was just reading about him and his success with the Easy brand. Will be interesting to see what he does in the gaming industry.