Kenyan sports betting operator SportPesa has entered the Italian market via its acquisition of locally licensed operator RCS Gaming.
Late last week, SportPesa Global announced that it was acquiring 75% of RCS Gaming, a subsidiary of the RCS Media Group. Terms weren’t disclosed, but the deal will see RCS rechristen its Italian-licensed Gazzabet brand as SportPesa.
Gazzabet.it launched in September 2014 as a partnership with gambling technology provider Playtech but has yet to claim a significant share of Italy’s online gambling market. Official figures show Gazzabet.it’s sportsbook revenue totaled a mere €800k in 2016, equating to about 0.8% of the overall sports betting market. The site’s casino operations earned around €820k, equal to around 0.18% of the market.
The deal also calls for SportPesa to enter a five-year advertising contract to promote its new Italian betting brand via various RCS Media Group outlets, including the Corriere della Sera daily newspaper and the La7 television channel.