NEWS / THE BRIEFING /
Q
&
A
CEO
SVEN IVO
BRINCK
You’ve taken the reins after
a difficult year for mybet, so
what are your main priorities for
2014 and beyond?
Firstly, we must ensure we do
some cost cutting. We’ve already
achieved roughly €1m of cost savings
from different areas. We have started
to professionalise the organisation
and will continue to do this, especially
in terms of the organisation and
controlling of projects. There are
some weaknesses that sum up to
a relevant amount of money which
could be saved over the year.
There are costs of creation of
products, mainly associated with
distribution costs for the franchise
operations and for the sales
infrastructure we operate on our
own. Mybet has suffered in the past
because the product environment
wasn’t 100% stable and we’ve had
technical issues. Therefore, we are
trying to improve availability and
stability to reach a level of 99.99%.
A
Q
A
And what about your
international strategy?
Online, we have to shape our
internationalisation strategy in
terms of which countries we will tap
into over the next few months and
what the new customer development
could look like in these countries.
Q
Mybet’s lottery business has
struggled, particularly in
Spain. Why do you think that
might be?
I think there are a lot of reasons
for that. The Spanish market is
very weak at the moment. Other
lottery operators haven’t had
success in Spain, and the market
is so sceptical towards buying
something on the internet first,
and the economic situation is so
threatening and negative that I don’t
think it’s clear when this will change.
On top of all that, the regulator isn’t
predictable. Therefore, I’m really
sceptical towards its future.
A
8
ARJEL has promoted Gilles
Crespin to the role of chief
MYBET
Q
ARJEL APPOINTS NEW
CHIEF EXECUTIVE
Q
You are currently
considering several options
for the Italy-facing business.
Why do you think you have
struggled in Italy?
Internally, we’ve had to refocus what we would like to
offer in Italy. The market in general
isn’t developing as most operators
predicted two or three years ago.
Our team really did everything they
could, and were working extremely
hard but until now they haven’t been
able to achieve our plans.
A
executive following the
retirement of incumbent
Frédéric Epaulard as the
French regulator continues its
restructuring process. Crespin
is to move up from his current
role of assistant general
manager, a role he has held
since September 2011, and
will report into ARJEL’s
new president Charles
Coppolani, who took control
of the regulator in February.
Coppolani’s appointment
came after the resignation of
predecessor Jean-François
Vilotte, who left at the start of
the year following four years
with the body.
Q
A
What’s the status quo on
German regulation?
We sent over our documentation
for the licensing process to
the Hesse, and we are part of the
licensing process in Germany.
Personally I am not sure if licences
are to be granted this year. At a
business talk all of our competitors
agreed that most aren’t expecting
licences this year. Most of the other
sportsbook firms doubt if the process
will end anyway, because they think
there are so many risks and questions
implicated in the process that it’s
more likely the politicians will stop
the process and restart it completely
after one year of thinking about it.
Q
Several senior management
figures left in a relativ