Betsson
 | This article may need to be rewritten to comply with Wikipedia's quality standards. (May 2009) |
| File:Betsson logo.png | |
| Company type | Private limited company |
|---|---|
| Industry | Online gaming |
| Founded | 2001 |
| Headquarters |  Ta' Xbiex, Malta |
Key people | Magnus Grinneback (CEO) |
| Products | Betsson Trader, Betting exchange, Bingo, Casino, Games, Poker, Scratch cards, Sportsbook, Turkish Poker |
| Owner | Betsson AB |
| Website | betsson.com |
Betsson Malta Ltd. is an online gambling company that offers online poker, online casino, scratch cards, exchange betting and sports betting. The company is headquartered in Malta and owned by the OMX listed public company Betsson AB.
History
Betsson was founded by Fredrik Sidfalk, Henrik Bergquist and Anders Holmgren, in the beginning of 2001, and obtained an official bookmaker license in London in April 2002.[1] The Betsson site was launched in May 2002 in English and Swedish. One month later, Betsson began offering live betting on its betting exchange. Expansion was brisk, with sites for Finland and Germany added together with an online casino. In 2004, Betsson grew to include Norway and the Czech Republic and in July 2004, Betsson Poker was launched in collaboration with partner Ongame.[1]
In March 2005, Betsson reached the 100,000 registered customers milestone.[1] The company grew further by launching sites in Turkey, Iceland and Denmark. In April 2005, Betsson became a fully owned subsidiary company of Cherry Företagen AB[1], quoted on the Swedish stock exchange. The same year marked the launch of the sports betting and mobile poker products, a Java applet making it possible to play poker on their mobile phone against the same players and in the same network as on the site.
By January 2006, Betsson, including the company’s online casinos had reached more than 400,000 registered customers and the decision was made to move the main headquarters from London to Malta.[1]. Betsson launched their fifth main product, Scratch Card Trio, and Turkish Poker in 2006. The Betsson site was chosen as the best sports and betting website by the magazine Internetworld [2].
In March 2007 Betsson launched bingo on the Swedish market and live betting in the Sportsbook. A few months later in May 2007, Betsson opened sites in France, followed by Greece, Italy and Spain. A popular customer loyalty programme called Betsson Points was also launched.
Financial betting with floating odds was launched in October 2007 under the brand name Betsson Trader. Online games followed in December 2007 further expanding the product portfolio to 9 products.
The geographic expansion continued in 2008 and in January Betsson entered South America, launching its first South American site in Peru while launching new sites in Serbia and the Dutch. Betsson reached the 1,000,000 registered clients milestone in 2008.
Betsson branched out to a bricks and mortar presence in May 2008, when it opened a betting shop in Stockholm, challenging the Swedish state gambling monopoly claiming support from the laws of the European Union.[3]
Notes
- ^ a b c d e "Company History - Betsson". Retrieved 2008-02-19.
- ^ "Internet World Sweden (in Swedish)" (in Swedish). Retrieved 2008-09-04.
- ^ "Betsson challenges Swedish gaming monopoly". Retrieved 2008-09-04.