In a blow to loyal customers who have championed the smaller brand for years, EnergyBet and EnergyCasino have decided to call it quits in the UK.
Joining them is LVBet – technically a separate company but with links that have long been suspected that we will go into later on in the post.
As for the reason?
It’s fairly generic:
“a business decision following the current market changes in the UK”
This is as in depth as the company have been in their official announcements, but we can speculate with some certainty what is going on behind closed doors.
That makes it sound dodgy, it’s not, and existing customers have no need for concern as the companies behind both brands are still in business, so no funds are at risk.
So what is going on here?
Info for Customers of Energy and LVBet
Both brands are going to continue operating in other countries, so it’s not as though they are in financial trouble, and that means they will be pulling out of the market in such a way that protects customer funds.
There is not yet any official announcement on the websites themselves and support agents are remaining tight lipped, but it is happening.
The only concrete information available to those in the industry is that registration for new customers will cease on the 13th of September (today).
However, it can be assumed that bets will no longer be taken a short time after this, and then there will be a period where the site stays live for withdrawals before closing down completely.
As for ante post bets that have already been made, in these circumstances they are either refunded, or honoured/paid out up until a certain date, but nothing has been confirmed as of yet.
Rest assured though, everything should be handled fairly and professionally, and customer services are available to help once the customer base has been officially informed.
What’s the Link Between Energy and LVBet?
On the face of it, there isn’t one.
EnergyBet and EnergyCasino are owned and operated by Probe Investments under their own gambling license, with no other brands associated.
Similarly, LVBet run on their own gambling license, but are owned and operated by Fairload Limited, who have no other brands associated.
This in itself doesn’t mean much, but both brands run on the same platform, which isn’t used by any other brands in the UK industry, and both brands are also officially based in Malta with some staff crossover too.
A lot of companies base themselves in tax havens like this, when in actual fact they are truly operating from another country entirely. The very British Betfred do it; they have their head office in Warrington, but are officially based in Gibraltar. Well Energy and LV are both Eastern European companies.
They have also both chosen to pull out of the UK market at exactly the same time, and sent word for word emails to that effect to their affiliate partners, so there is blatantly some sort of link here in the background.
Why are They Leaving the UK?
Their quote about ‘market changes’ can only refer to the long awaited Government white paper on gambling, which is expected to contain some pretty big changes to the way companies must operate in Britain.
This would require a lot of work behind the scenes to update their platform to meet new standards, and as we know, both brands use the same platform.
Energy and LV have probably decided that the investment that would be needed to keep up with changing regulations is not worth the return.
In Energy’s case in particular, this speaks volumes, because they have many many UK registered players and bettors having been established here since 2016.
If they are willing to cut loose all of those customers to focus their attention elsewhere, rather than make the necessary changes to their UK operation, then the UK market must be hostile indeed.
It has always been tough here, with the really big brands hoovering up the majority of the market share, but many smaller sites carve out a nice little niche for themselves and Energy was certainly one of them.
They have spent a lot on marketing in the past, sponsoring big football teams like Aston Villa and Millwall among others, so have fought hard for their little corner of the industry.
This begs the question; if it doesn’t make business sense for Energy to stick around, how long will other smaller brands be with us?
Reaction
Many hardened gamblers are not surprised, saying that Energy have gone backwards in their promotions and withdrawal times, with the former becoming fewer and less valuable and the latter getting longer.
Perhaps this was caused by difficult market conditions forcing cost cutting exercises, which in turn has led to customers voting with their feet, creating a vicious circle making it harder and harder for the brand to compete?
We will never know for sure.
Overall, from what I have been reading and the conversations I have been having, the majority of people are sad to see Energy go (they aren’t so fussed about LVBet).
The team there were well known and well liked by industry insiders and both brands had solid reputations for fairness, with no bad press over the years.
Personally, I think the casino players will miss these sites more than the bettors, but it does leave me wondering if we will eventually end up with just a handful of huge brands to bet with, and no one else.