B2B or not to be
The past year has seen operators moving into B2B solutions on a greater scale than ever before, with software suppliers becoming "white label" operators and existing operators expanding into new markets via B2B solutions.
The past year has seen operators moving into B2B solutions on a greater scale than ever before, with software suppliers becoming "white label" operators and existing operators expanding into new markets via B2B solutions.
Latest example of this development is Unibet's three-year agreement with Finnish operator PAF (Ålands Penningautomatförening), a move into the B2B market that follows similar ones by a host of other operators, among them Swedish rival Betsson, which consolidated its existing B2B operations into its Betsson Business Solutions arm earlier this year.
Other companies opting for the same route include Bwin, which announced a new push on B2B via its OnGame Network at the beginning of this year, while January also saw PartyGaming sign a deal with Danish monopoly Danske Spil to supply online poker and casino games.
In November 2009, Paddy Power launched new B2B arm Airton Risk Management to facilitate a five-year agreement to supply French duopoly operator PMU with a sportsbook in November last year, while 888’s Dragonfish B2B arm has also signed a string of B2B deals, including one with US casino giant Harrah’s in September 2009.
Whether these developments represent part of an active trend or merely a passing fancy in the on-line gaming business is difficult to predict, but the model is certainly by no means new to the industry.
Since Parsrpo first implemented its ppTOTO sports book on behalf of Bet24 in 2002, all Parspro products have been fully B2B ready.
A prime example of this is Unibet's pari-mutuel horse racing platform, which runs on Parspro Miranda/Cordelia software and was implemented as part of the Unibet’s B2B operation with the Swedish operator travnet.se
Whether the shift towards B2B is a passing trend or merely a passing fancy, it is clearly here to stay for the time being, and by equipping themselves with the company’s cutting-edge systems and solutions, Parspro customers are ideally placed to exploit it to the full.