One of the pioneers of the online sports betting industry in the 1990s has returned to compete in the Arizona market and is hoping to win customers away from the major sportsbook operators.
Where the Line Originates
There is another entry into the increasingly crowded Arizona sports betting market, and it is one with which some older bettors could be familiar. Betcris, an offshore sports betting pioneer whose tagline is “where the line originates,” left the US market in 2007 after the UIGEA was passed.
It would take 11 long years before PASPA was overturned by the US Supreme Court before the United States could conduct its own domestic sports betting industry. As of this writing, 38 US states have launched sports betting, while Missouri is expected to launch this summer, bringing the total number to 39 states.
America’s robust sports betting was the siren’s song to Plannatech’s COO, Adam Bjorn, to resurrect Betcris in the States using its image and likeness to create nostalgia for the longstanding offshore brand and woo customers to its first US market—Arizona.
Coming to Arizona
Plannatech is the platform provider for Prime Sports, currently operating in New Jersey and Ohio, but now the company has gotten its own license in Arizona and is preparing to launch as early as this week through a partnership with the San Carlos Apache Tribal Gaming Enterprise.
“This brought an opportunity to get a B2C license as an operator. Me being on this side of the world for 20-plus years, knowing the Betcris brand and (Plannatech) as a platform provider for Betcris in Latin America, strategically saw it as an opportunity,” Bjorn said on Monday.
“We could’ve gone to many others with brand deals. To me, it was trying to find a spot or niche that would get attention without needing that massive branding budget that so many others have an advantage against us.”
A Different Approach
Arizona proved to be a graveyard last year as four sports betting operators, including Betfred, WynnBET, Unibet, and Betway, left the market after being unable to gain traction against
industry leaders FanDuel and DraftKings or whittle away market share from the less popular sportsbooks.
“It’s really hard to do this in a regulated market in the U.S. when you’ve got two behemoths (FanDuel and DraftKings) and a bunch of brick and mortars,” Bjorn said.
Bjorn’s Betcris blueprint appears to be in the realm of old-school bookmaking, ala Circa Sports, operating in Nevada and based in Las Vegas. There are currently 14 sportsbooks in the Grand Canyon State, but the niche for Betcris is attracting “known, educated sports bettors,” which translates to older folks who may appreciate a different sports betting experience and will recognize the Betcris brand.
The sportsbook-friendly 10% tax rate was also a determining factor for launching Betcris in Arizona. Moreover, Plannatech is a private company and has no stockholders to appease.
“We’re not in a race against anyone but ourselves, and this industry isn’t going anywhere,” Bjorn said. “Most people have four or five (sports betting) apps. I’m just looking to be sort of that third or fourth app on anybody’s phone.”
