Belgian land-based and online operator StarCasino will expand into Spain, having agreed a deal for Gaming Innovation Group (GiG) to power both its sportsbook and casino offering.
StarCasino – which has received licences to offer both sports betting and casino in Spain – will use GiG’s player account management system and its Sportnco sportsbook.
These, GiG said, are “focused on delivering excellent localised and personal casino journeys and strong sports margins in competitive and regulated markets”.
More entries to come for StarCasino?
Alejandro Casanova, country manager for Starcasino Spain suggested the entry could be the first step in a wider international expansion for his business.
“We feel very pleased to have reached an agreement with the GiG Group,” he said. “After many years of work and success in Belgium we have initiated our expansion to other markets and in Spain have selected GiG’s technologies to successfully face the challenges.”
Hervé Schlosser, managing director of Sportnco Gaming at GiG, said that GiG’s technology was particularly well-suited for operators looking to enter new markets.
“I am really pleased to have signed this partnership with Starcasino, to power their entry into the appealing Spanish market,” he said. “I am convinced that our combined sportsbook, platform technology and regulatory experience is well suited to help established operators like Starcasino power into new regulated markets.”
Marketing challenges in Spain
In October, Spain’s Senate approved a bill that would introduce a number of new advertising restrictions on top of existing tight marketing rules in the market.
Spain brought in wide-reaching advertisement restrictions in November 2020. This meant that advertising could only be on television and radio between 1am and 5am, and that gambling sponsorships with football teams were banned. Ongoing deals were allowed to continue until the end of the season.
Many of these restrictions formed part of Spain’s initial response to the Covid-19 pandemic, when initial ad limits were put in place. Those restrictions were later lifted in June, but many were reintroduced in the November decree.
The new bill looks to reintroduce more restrictions that were part of the temporary Covid-19 rules. These include instructing operators not to market their products as beneficial to social status, physical health, economic stability or mental health.
