{"id":300,"date":"2019-08-09T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2019-08-09T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gbc.ng\/russias-biggest-sports-betting-operators-had-a-stellar-2018\/"},"modified":"2019-08-09T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2019-08-09T00:00:00","slug":"russias-biggest-sports-betting-operators-had-a-stellar-2018","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gbc.ng\/index.php\/russias-biggest-sports-betting-operators-had-a-stellar-2018\/","title":{"rendered":"RUSSIA\u2019S BIGGEST SPORTS BETTING OPERATORS HAD A STELLAR 2018"},"content":{"rendered":"

Russia\u2019s five largest sports betting operators nearly doubled their revenue last year thanks to the\u00a0FIFA World Cup<\/strong>\u00a0being played in their back yard.<\/p>\n

Figures published Wednesday by Russian news agencyInterfax<\/strong>\u00a0show total revenue at the country\u2019s five largest bookmakers hit RUB110b (US$1.7b) in 2018, up more than 86% from the RUB59b the top-five generated in 2017. The data was drawn from the SPARK-Interfax system, which collects info on Russian companies.<\/p>\n

The market-leading\u00a0Liga Stavok<\/strong>\u00a0reported its revenue more than tripling to RUB36.1b, while net profit shot up more than thirty-fold to RUB620.1m. (Interfax notes that some of the revenue and profit comparisons may not be purely down to increased activity, i.e. corporate restructuring and other market factors played their part.)<\/p>\n

Runner-up\u00a0Fonbet<\/strong>\u2019s revenue was up 2.5x to RUB24.1b while profit rose 5.5x to RUB9.3b. Third place went to\u00a0Bingo Boom<\/strong>, which saw its revenue grow 2.4x to RUB20.2b while its profit fell by nearly two-fifths to RUB380.6m.<\/p>\n

In fourth place was\u00a0Betcity<\/strong>, the only one of the top-five to see its revenue fall last year, dipping 4.2% to RUB17.3b but profit shot up 9.5x to RUB458.4m. Rounding out the top-five was\u00a0Baltbet<\/strong>, whose revenue rose a modest 12.5% to RUB12.2b but somehow managed to turn a net profit of RUB252m after losing RUB78.3m in 2017.<\/p>\n

JUNE TRAFFIC SURGE FOR 1XBET<\/strong>
\n1xBet<\/strong>\u2019s 2018 stats weren\u2019t good enough to make the top-five but the company\u2019s Russian-licensed website was the undisputed traffic leader for the month of June 2019. SimilarWeb data crunched byBetting Business Russia<\/strong>\u00a0showed 1xStavka.ru garnered 10.7m visits in June, nearly twice the previous month\u2019s total and well ahead of runner-ups Fonbet (8.8m) and Liga Stavok (3.1m).<\/p>\n

It\u2019s unclear whether all that\u00a0unauthorized online video advertising<\/strong>\u00a0of the international 1xBet domains has had a knock-on effect for the domestic site. It\u2019s also tempting to credit 1xBet\u2019s traffic surge to Russia\u2019s new\u00a0simplified account registration process<\/strong>, but that didn\u2019t take effect until July 14.<\/p>\n

MORE PAYMENT WOES ON THE HORIZON?<\/strong>
\n Opening an account may have gotten easier, but payment processing may get tougher as Russian legislators are pushing a new bill that might push Visa and MasterCard to abandon their Russian operations.<\/p>\n

The draft law, which came in response to the US government imposing fresh sanctions on some Russian banks, would compel international payment processors to process Russian transactions regardless of any new sanctions.<\/p>\n

Visa and Mastercard\u2019s Russian subsidiaries previously stopped servicing bank cards in the Crimea after Russian military forces annexed the region from the Ukraine. Russia intends not to let that happen in the rest of Russia.<\/p>\n

Last month,\u00a0Russian media<\/strong>\u00a0quoted inside sources saying Visa and Mastercard would likely wind down their Russian operations rather than risk punishment in the US for violating the sanctions. However, a Visa spokesperson later told\u00a0Ria Novosti<\/strong>\u00a0<\/strong>that Russia was a \u201cstrategically important market\u201d and the company was \u201ccommitted to ensuring the smooth operation of non-cash payments for all participants in the payment ecosystem.\u201d<\/p>\n

MasterCard only recently\u00a0resumed processing payments<\/strong>\u00a0for Russian-licensed bookmakers, so bettors will be hoping this return isn\u2019t short-lived. Russian legislators are currently on their summer break but will return to the Duma on September 10 to resume debate on the proposed legislation.<\/p>\n

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