Sports betting supplier Sportech’s Racing and Digital subsidiary has extended and expanded its Quantum System licensing agreement with Veikkaus, for the Finnish state-owned operator’s pari-mutuel betting system.
In addition to the extension to its existing agreement, Veikkaus will also now benefit from Sportech’s tote Service Layer, to offer pari-mutuel betting on horse racing from 4,500 points of sale, a major increase from the current number of around 1,000.
Veikkaus senior vice president and chief information officer, Ari Aarnihuhta, said: “Veikkaus has been very pleased with the quality of the Sportech solution and the responsiveness of the Sportech team,” said Veikkaus senior vice president and chief information officer Ari Aarnihuhta.
“We are excited to leverage Sportech’s technology solution to expand our network of pools betting points of sale; a change that we are confident will have a very positive impact on customer experience of horse racing betting in Finland.”
Sportech’s senior vice president sales and business development for Europe, the Middle East and Africa, Bruno Gay, added: “Sportech is delighted to once again extend our long relationship with Veikkaus and to help facilitate the dramatic expansion of pari-mutuel betting to their 4,500 unit retail network with implementation of our Tote Service Layer.”
“This project perfectly illustrates the flexibility of Quantum System and the seamless integrations facilitated by our Tote Service Layer. The combination of the two allows clients like Veikkaus to expand the reach of their pools betting products in order to grow their audience and deliver an overall better end user experience.”
Veikkaus revealed in August it expected its 2020 profits to fall by as much as €300m (£268.6m/$354.5m), after reporting a 28.1% year-on-year decline in gross revenue and 33.6% drop in profit for the first half of the year.
Gross gaming revenue for the six months to 30 June fell to €607.2m, with Veikkaus estimating that the total was down by around €200m as a result of the disruption caused by novel coronavirus (Covid-19).
Its retail network of arcades and slot machines was shuttered from March, only reopening between June and July, in line with restrictions which saw the maximum number of visitors in venues significantly reduced.
Sportech has expanded its partnerships globally throughout 2020, with new agreements with the Jockey Club del Peru, UK Tote Group and World Tote Association signed between September and October.
The supplier also saw its losses widen five-fold in the first half of 2020 as the impact of Covid-19 led to a 38.7% drop in revenue to £20.2m. Of this, £13.1m came from the racing and digital division, down 27.4% amid the cancellation of most horse racing worldwide.
