Based in Malta, Kambi Group plc is an international B2B provider of sports betting technology to regulated sportsbook operators. The company’s reach is global in scale. This includes an increasing business presence in the legal US sports betting industry.
In recent company news, Kambi has deepened its US footprint through a new strategic partnership with Affinity Interactive. It will power Affinity’s planned digital and retail sports betting platform. This platform will be known as DRF Sports.
Iowa sportsbooks market has been identified as the initial rollout market for DRF Sports. Future expansion plans have yet to be released. However, rollouts in other states of the DRF Sports brand will continue throughout 2022 and beyond.
Affinity’s Current Operations
Affinity is based in Las Vegas, Nevada. The company owns and operates DRF Bets and the Daily Racing Form. While this media property primarily covers betting on horse races, expansion into sports betting was a natural fit.
The Daily Racing Form has grown to become the face of horse betting industry in the US. This should provide a natural gateway into the realm of legal online sports betting.
The company also has a portfolio of casino and online iGaming offerings. The customer base is close to one million across all of these verticals.
This portfolio includes eight land-based casinos covering five properties in Nevada, two in Missouri, and one in Iowa. These gaming venues could lend themselves as the perfect opportunity to expand legal retail sports betting through on-site sportsbooks.
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Kambi and Affinity Partnership
In a recent company press release, Affinity’s chair James Zenni described the current sports betting marketplace as “an exciting time” for both his company and the sports betting industry as a whole.
As far as the new strategic partnership with Kambi, he stated:
“The tie-up with Kambi will present Affinity with multiple opportunities to upon which to capitalize, while positioning both brands for mutual success”
He added that the partnership represented “the first step in our strategy of rolling out the DRF Sports brand to online customers for sports betting and iGaming.”
Kambi’s US Growth in 2021
The highlight of Kambi’s expansion efforts in the US last year was in the state of New York. The company led a consortium of US-based operators in an effort to gain entry into New York sportsbooks, which are a lucrative market for legal online sports betting.
Set to launch ahead of this year’s NFL Super Bowl, legal online sports betting through mobile sportsbook apps has unlimited potential in the state of New York.
Kambi currently has active partnerships with sports betting operators across six different continents. This includes Penn National Gaming, Rush Street Interactive and Churchill Downs Incorporated in the US market.
Going back to 2020, the company’s US operations covering sports betting in 13 states raised revenue by 28%. The projected growth in 2021 should be even more impressive once the final results are tallied.
Kindred Group and LeoVegas are two prominent sportsbook partners in the UK. Other prominent partnerships in other regulated markets have established Kambi as a global power in the entire sports betting industry.
