Ben Clemes is the chief business development officer of Gaming Innovation Group (GiG), overseeing the commercial team where he was previously the chief commercial officer. Ben has been with the company since 2013, and has 16 years of experience within the online gaming industry. Through his new role, Ben will oversee and integrate the sales team efforts of GiG and Sportnco. 온라인카지노사이트

Since the repeal of the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA) in May 2018, a wave of sports betting regulations has swept the United States. It has transformed North America into a major growth market for the industry, coinciding with regulatory or re-regulation efforts in Latin America and expanded opportunities in European markets such as Greece, Germany and the Netherlands.

Gaming Innovation Group (GiG) is looking to secure a position to grow vertically in the sportsbook space through its acquisition of Sportno. The deal, agreed last year and concluded in April 2022, allows it to quickly close its gap with existing B2B sports providers.

Ben Clemes, formerly chief commercial officer at GiG, has moved to a new position as chief business development officer overseeing sales to the supplier’s significantly expanded addressable market. But as the deal is completed, the focus shifts to integration and developing strategies to tackle these new opportunities.

Gaming Innovation Group (GiG) closed its acquisition of the highly-rated sportsbook and platform company Sportno in April this year for an initial €51.3 million. Ben Clemse, GiG’s chief business development officer, explains the work in progress to consolidate the business and why it is providing a foothold for suppliers to re-launch in the U.S.

master plan
The deal itself has certainly accelerated GiG’s sportsbook strategy. Clemes says it would have taken “40 or 50 months after development” to develop a similar solution given the regulated marketplace not yet supported by GiG Core and operated by Sportnco, which has doubled GiG’s addressable market. It also expands its provider’s presence in 35 markets to a licensed combined company, with seven more markets serving its platform to around 55 customers.

However, the integration process is critical to ensure that the two work in harmony with each other. After the pre-integration work, GiG was able to develop a carefully planned plan to include Sportonco’s first 100 days as part of its business.

This initially looks at “quick wins,” Clemes explains, such as consolidating some business units.

“Sales, for example, have been working together for months because we have the opportunity to collaborate,” he says. “It made sense to bring sales teams together quickly. About 40% of sales in the pipeline now are joint projects between the two companies.”

The first joint deal with Angolan operator Full Games has already been signed, set to launch ahead of the World Cup, and is the first major partnership to bring GiG to the regulated African market. But the new deal didn’t stop there. Last week, GiG signed with Crab Sports to enter the Maryland market with an offer that combines GiG PAM and Sportnco US sports betting solutions.

But beyond that, Clemes stresses that integration should be “as strict as possible” as Sportnco will be GiG’s sportsbook solution.

Carefully executed integration will enable multi-product marketing, give casino-first customers access to the entire data catalog for cross-promotion, and allow GiG and Sportnco to evaluate any compliance requirements that arise.

“We don’t want to rush it,” he added. “We want to ensure that we take our time and complete the integration as strictly as possible.

“Then we have an existing GiG sports partner that needs to move to Sportno, so we’re looking at ways to do this as much as possible, in addition to new opportunities that are ongoing.”