Focus on in-game
Shares in Australian-based PointsBet soared by 19% to close at AU$2.55 (US$1.78) following the news that US trading giant Susquehanna International Group (SIG) had injected AU$94m (US$65.4m) into the sportsbook operator.
purchased 12.76% of PointsBet shares
According to the Sydney Morning Herald, SIG announced it had purchased 12.76% of PointsBet shares on Monday. PointsBet Communications took to Twitter with news of the deal and to thank SIG co-founder Jeff Yass:
The deal gives SIG the opportunity to leverage its technological expertise within the in-game wagering segment of US digital sports betting, where Yass believes his firm has an advantage. He said that the technology and the mathematics are “almost exactly the same for sports betting as it is for options trading.”
Synergies at play
According to the SIG co-founder, the firm plans to leverage its options trading know-how to work with PointsBet on growing its in-game sports betting offering. Yass said both firms have agreed that this should be the focus moving forwards.
no one really has the expertise”
“There is really very little in-game betting in the United States because no one really has the expertise,” Yass said, firmly establishing his firm’s sports betting vision. He outlined the long and careful process behind SIG’s investment into US sports betting, suggesting that the firm had “scoured the earth […] several years” for a suitable partner.
Yass also highlighted PointsBet’s experience in the Aussie sports betting industry, and how the firm considered itself a bookmaking operation as opposed to a marketing team.
Future vision
As part of the deal, PointsBet will get European operation access to SIG’s sports trading arm, Nellie Analytics, which is active on global sports betting exchanges. PointsBet CEO Sam Swanell believes Nellie can boost the sportsbook’s appeal via “more accurate prices and sharper risk management.”
The combination of Nellie with PointsBet will give the sportsbook “more betting markets, in-play prices, faster bid placement, and, ultimately, higher wagering limits,” Swanell claimed.
According to the Morning Herald, PointsBet chairman Brett Paton said his firm was “delighted to pair up with a visionary investor which has committed ongoing support and is eminently qualified in analytical trading in financial markets, and now in sports.”