On April 3, 2018, we will hold the traditional conference dedicated to sports betting – Betting Trends Forum – in Moscow. This event is a platform for sharing knowledge among various industry participants: betting providers, advertising and marketing specialists, lawyers, and media representatives.
We expect that this year’s forum will bring together approximately 300 people.
Betting in Russia: promising business sector
Sports betting business shows a steady growth in Russia: the amount of betting shops within the country has reached 7 000 by the beginning of 2018. There were 6836 of them in early 2017. According to the estimates of betting operators, the increase in profit is approximately 10-13% per annum.
Today, there are 14 officially registered betting shops in Russia. It means that businesspeople desiring to enter the growing sports betting market have huge opportunities. However, there is a range of difficulties related to this business.
The key problem is strict requirements for obtaining a license (one needs at least 100 million rubles of authorized capital, at least 1 billion rubles of net assets, and at least 500 million rubles of bank guarantee). Challenges also include advertising restrictions and negative reputation of Russian betting providers.
The most popular events for betting are still football matches: 95% of all bets. They are followed by hockey, basketball, and volleyball by a long shot. The Oscar and the Eurovision Song Contest are the most popular non-sporting events. Bookmakers note that the increasing variety of sports bets does not spark players’ interest. Therefore, betting business has been rapidly developing on the Internet in order to expand its audience.
Russia's gambling legislation is changed continuously. The new amendments became effective in 2017: the Law on purpose-oriented deductions in favor of sports. Besides, the community is waiting for the increase of the tax rate in 2018.
Meeting of like-minded people
We are holding Betting Trends Forum, the event for all CIS betting providers, in order to explain participants the new rules of the game, reveal opportunities and new strategies, as well as unite the community to stand upon their rights and interests. The event will involve major specialists from Russia and other countries: lawyers, marketing experts, market analysts, economists, as well as founders and CEOs of successful gambling businesses.
It is the third time that Betting Trends Forum will take place. 2016 and 2017 events were successful: more than dozens of speakers made presentations at both conferences, and the audience included hundreds of industry representatives. Participants describe the forum as a platform for discussing issues, elaborating industrial approaches, and developing various projects. A program of Betting Trends Forum 2018 will be even more diversified.
Moreover, we organize other events dedicated to gambling. The greatest of them is annual Russian Gaming Week with Betting Awards. Russian Gaming Week 2018 will be held in Moscow on June 7-8.