Bet On Sports Gambling Group Looks East

Published: Wednesday, January 25, 2006 Online-Casinos.com

BET ON SPORTS GAMBLING GROUP LOOKS EAST

"Explosive growth" possible - similar development to the Caribbean five years back

The high profile CEO at Bet On Sports group, David Carruthers was quoted in a Reuters report this week as saying he "...expects explosive growth from the group's recent acquisition of Easybets, a company that investors are watching keenly for clues to the burgeoning Asian online gaming market."

Easybets takes about 80 percent of its business from China and Hong Kong. "We see seeds of development comparable to Central America and the Caribbean five years ago," Carruthers told Reuters. "It's about to explode."

High fraud levels, payment processing hassles, and low penetration of broadband and credit cards are cited as problems for Internet gaming companies in Asia, but Carruthers says he has seen little of this.

"We have a huge headstart because of what we bought with Easybets," he added. "The soft target is organic growth, but I wouldn't discount acquisitions. This market will make the U.S. look like chicken-feed in five years."

Carruthers said the three U.S.-focused online sportsbooks and casinos it bought in December for up to $37 million were being integrated smoothly. They are MVP Sportsbook, Player Super Book and V-Wager.

And he said the group was keen to balance out its Asia- and U.S.-focused business, possibly through further acquisitions.

"The likely strategy to enter Europe would be an acquisition, but we're not going to play in the UK -- It's too crowded," he said. "Why spend money competing with the likes of William Hill and Ladbrokes?"

Carruthers is quoted as saying that while there are around 2,000 online gaming companies worldwide now, he expected that to consolidate to around 20 in the next five years. "We're going to start seeing public companies going after public companies soon," he added.