For the longest of times BetVictor was a staunchly independent high class bookmaker that only focussed on quality odds and customer service, when it was still operational on the high street and when it went online.
While BetVictor the brand is still going strong and looks no different to the punter, behind the scenes, the company has been undergoing a huge transformation.
The very core of what the business is all about is now different, starting with a white label arrangement with a well known Russian betting brand, Parimatch, that came somewhat out of the blue back in 2020, and signalled that BetVictor was moving in a new direction.
The wheels had been in motion long before 2020 though, so even though BetVictor’s rebrand to the BVGroup earlier in 2023 might have felt like the turning point, the ship had changed course many years previously.
Why did BetVictor Become BVGroup?
It was all about representing the company that BetVictor had become, while at the same time remembering where they had come from.
In simple terms, BetVictor had turned itself from a single brand independent online bookmaker into a multi-brand platform and white label provider, and it needed a new name to recognise that.
Calling BVGroup a platform and white label provider isn’t really doing them any justice though, because they are not some cheap cookie cutter type solution provider.
BVGroup may have quite quickly gone from having one brand operating under their license in 2020 (Parimatch), to 6 today, but these are real strategic partnerships rather than directionless technology hire agreements.
BVGroup seek out quality betting brands that want to either enter new regions, or quality brands from other industries that want to enter the gambling business.
Three of their brand partners are from the media world, for example:
- BildBet – Bild is a popular tabloid style newspaper in Germany published by Axel Springer SE
- Heart Bingo – The Heart Radio brand is part of the Global Media Group Services
- talkSPORT BET – TalkSPORT is the world’s biggest sports radio station, owned by Wireless Group (part of News UK)
Interestingly, the arrangement seems to be a little different for each brand. For example Heart Bingo’s site tells us that the brand is on license from Global Media Services, while talkSPORT BET seems to be operating under a more traditional white label deal.
Parimatch was obviously a bookmaking brand already, but needed help getting into the UK market, and the final brand, Wiz Slots, is actually one of the group’s own, much like BetVictor, but specifically aimed at online casino players.
How has BetVictor Changed?
The brand hasn’t changed at all, you can still log on to BetVictor and bet or play games as you always could.
The difference is that BetVictor used to be the name of the overall business as well as the brand (in everyday conversation anyway), whereas now, it is just one of the brands in the overall group, called the BVGroup.
Of course, it’s not ‘just’ a brand, it’s the flagship brand, the main one if you like, but still, it is now part of something bigger. It hasn’t changed in terms of what the bettor sees though.
The business itself, however, has changed massively.
It is now a B2B solutions provider working with other brands and betting companies, whereas it used to simply be a B2C outfit supplying betting and gaming services direct to punters and players.
This change started back in 2014 when BetVictor’s owner, Victor Chandler, sold the company and stepped away. The new owner, Michael Tabor, hired a CEO called Andreas Meinrad, and together they decided to take the company in a different direction.
BetVictor had already been exploring the possibility of licensing their proprietary technology to a company in the Asian marketplace, and once they realised this could be done successfully they decided to do the same thing closer to home.
Behind the scenes BetVictor were improving the speed and capabilities of their product for years, getting it to the point where multiple brands could be supported . They named this improved product, BV:360.
So just like BetVictor were a high end bookmaker, BVGroup have transformed themselves into a high end technology solutions provider, and they plan to keep expanding with Canada and Brazil being their next targets.