Sportingbet founder Mark Blandford takes strategic role at B90 Holdings
The AIM-listed business, whose Nordics and Latin America-facing brands include Bet90 Sports, said online gambling pioneer Blandford will begin his work with immediate effect.
Blandford, who founded Sportingbet in 1998, also serves as the chairman of both Gambling(.com) and FSB Technology.
Ronny Breivik, interim executive chairman of B90, said: “Mark has pioneered the development, financing, and monetising of digital Pay2Play entertainment companies over the last 15 years and having worked with him previously at Sportingbet, I am extremely pleased that he has invested in B90 and has now agreed to become a strategic adviser to the company. His experience, advice, market insight and knowledge, as well as his network of contacts, will be invaluable to us as we embark on the next phase of our growth.”
Blandford said: “B90 is determined to make more use of the opportunities afforded by its listing on the AIM market, particularly as it is one of the few stock market-listed online bookmakers and gaming companies on that market at present. I look forward to supporting Ronny and his team in identifying and monetising these opportunities.”
Breivik assumed the executive chairman position on an interim basis in November 2022 following the departure of Karim Peer, who left after a shareholder revolt.
B90 announced yesterday that the business continued to perform in line with management expectations during the second half of FY2022. The board expects that revenues for FY2022 will be marginally in excess of €2.1m, in line with market expectations. It expects to report a reduced loss for FY2022 compared to FY2021, with an increase in administrative expenses, principally due to investment in marketing and operations, which together with exceptional costs incurred in connection with the EGM requisition concerning Peer’s position, is expected to result in an operating loss of approximately €3.0m.
In its most recent full-year results, B90 generated revenues of £800,000 and made an operating loss of £3.3m in the 12 months to 31 December 2021. During that year it acquired Spinbookie and Oddsen.nu Norway-facing sports betting affiliate site from Performance Media SIA.