Betfred may be looking to exit US market altogether

Betfred has long been somewhat hesitant about the market in the United States. Toughening market conditions, the high cost of doing business, and cut-throat competition have all been contributing factors to a sobering realization that not every battle is worth fighting.

Faced with realities on the ground, Betfred looks for what is next in the US

After the company recently announced that it is shuttering operations in Maryland, Colorado, and Ohio, the company’s US boss told leading media publication EGR that it may be looking to pare down its operations in the North American market, and the United States particularly, a notch further.

So far, Betfred intends to continue operating in seven states, offering a mix of retail and interactive betting options, excluding Maryland, Ohio and Colorado which are due to wind down or have already done so. In EGR’s exchange, Kresimir Spajic essentially said what his peers in Evoke had said before him.

Building a sustainable business in the United States is most likely possible, but does the effort live up to the reward, and wouldn’t the company’s resources be better moved somewhere else – outside the United States perhaps – to make a bigger bang for their buck?

Many companies have been engaged in such soul-searching, weighing the benefits and drawbacks of doing business in the United States. Spajic noted that the company is now considering what its future in the United States may look like, and that an answer was mostly likely coming by the year’s end.

Betfred is not the only company that has exited the US market

Spajic and Betfred are not the only companies that are second-guessing themselves about the true market potential of the United States given the current operational realities. Betway through Super Group, for example, has already announced its plans to exit the market, and before it, PointsBet USA dropped its assets in the country.

Fubo Sportsbook, MaximBET, Tipico and FOX Bet all ended up overwhelmed by the market pressure as well, finding it impossible to indefinitely ramp up advertising spending and chasing a far-off profit target that may never come to pass.

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