By BBBB
Australian bookmaker BlueBet Holdings Limited has announced that it will leave the US market to focus on operations in Australia.
The move will see its US-facing brand ClutchBet close down on Monday the 16th of September 2024.
The decision to exit the US market follows the company’s merger with Betr earlier this year. At the time the company announced that it would halt its planned expansion in US states while it undertook a strategic review of its operations.
Announcing its US exit, BlueBet stated that slower than anticipated regulatory approvals have hampered its plans for US expansion in the B2B sports betting software sector. It also noted that the dominance of larger brands in the US made it difficult for smaller sports betting operators to remain in the market.
BlueBet also revealed that it plans to exceed a 10% share in the sports betting market in Australia in the short-to-medium term. The closure of its US operations will allow the company to focus more efforts and finances towards achieving this goal:
BlueBet’s conservative “Capital-Lite” market entry strategy limited its investment in the US market. Excluding one-off costs, this will offer the Company the flexibility to redeploy the $6 million to $8 million per annum in cost savings realised from the US exit to fuel growth in its core Australian operations.
BlueBet will now wind down the US operations beginning immediately by informing all customers of the need to withdraw all funds from their accounts.
ClutchBet will no longer accept any deposits beginning today. All funds must be withdrawn by 5pm on September 15th. Any customers that fails to withdraw their funds will have a check sent in the post. All futures bets that settle after the closer date will no longer be honored, but the company will make an offer that “ClutchBet deems equitable for both parties.”
English