Gaming and sports betting content supplier NYX Gaming Group has penned an extension to its existing partnership with gambling operator GVC Holdings. Under the deal, GVC-owned bwin will go live with NYX Gaming’s Open Gaming System (OGS).
Generally speaking, NYX OGS is an online casino content aggregator that features both in-house developed games, through the NextGen Gaming studio, as well as titles by third-party developers.
GVC finalized the purchase of bwin.party last February, paying the total amount of £1.1 billion for its fellow gambling operator. The Isle of Man-based betting and gaming company added the bwin, partypoker, and partycasino brands to its existing portfolio, thus extending further its presence across regulated jurisdictions.
NYX Gaming’s new deal with GVC allows the provider, which has, too, taken part in the unprecedented consolidation wave within the industry with the £270-million OpenBet acquisition deal, to further expand into regulated market. Expanded regulated reach has long been part of the supplier’s growth strategy. As a gambling operator, GVC and its brands operate in some of the world’s largest markets with established gambling frameworks, including the UK, Italy, and Spain, among many others.
It was in 2015 when bwin.party was given the necessary approval by the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement to enter the state’s online gambling market through a partnership with Atlantic City’s Borgata Casino. The partnership remained active after GVC bought its fellow operator. With NYX OGS now going live with bwin, the supplier will, too, extend its presence to New Jersey.
According to media reports from last week, bwin may soon expand into another regulated jurisdiction. The gambling operator has applied for a license with the Polish Ministry of Finance and anticipates to enter the country’s newly regulated iGaming market anytime soon.
bwin’s potential and likely entry in Poland will come at a time of a massive exodus of gambling operators from the country. A new gambling law came into force in Poland on April 1, 2017. Under its provisions, international operators are now able to apply for a license to provide sports betting options to local bettors.
However, the country’s new gambling regulations, particularly those related to taxation, were broadly contested by the international iGaming operators’ community and a number of those bid their Polish players farewell in the weeks and days before the law was implemented. Major industry players like William Hill, bet365, and Pinnacle were among those to exit the newly regulated market, citing regulatory challenges as the reasons for their decision. The imposed 12% annual tax on turnover did not appeal to those and many more, particularly when bearing in mind the fact that most of the other regulated iGaming jurisdictions around Europe tax gambling companies on a percentage of their full-year revenue.
