11 Nov
The Kindred Group revealed that its Unibet sportsbook will stop taking wagers in the state of Iowa amid a re-focused North American strategy designed to establish a footprint in states that offer multiple products.
The announcement was made by Kindred Group CEO Henrik Tjärnström during an earnings call late last month. Tjärnström emphasized that the company remains bullish on long-term growth in US jurisdictions, but that strategic maneuvering was in order.
“As part of our efforts to continuously optimize the business and what we do, we reviewed the state footprint in line with our strategy to focus more on multi-product states and have decided to exit Iowa,” the CEO said.
Still Going Strong
Following the withdrawal from Iowa – which is set to occur in Q4 of 2022 – Unibet will still have operations in five states: New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Arizona, Virginia and Indiana.
Of those states, only Pennsylvania and New Jersey offer multiple igaming products – online poker, casinos and sports betting. Indiana will likely join them in due course.
The state of Washington is next in line for an entry by Unibet, in a partnership with the Swinomish Tribe. The population of Washington is 7.7 million.
In comparison, Iowa is definitely on the smallish side in terms of population with only 3.1 million residents. Of course, that factors in to Kindred's decision to exit the market as the number of potential customers is limited.
Kindred is based in Malta and has established gambling operations worldwide. That includes a presence in another North American territory – the Canadian province of Ontario.
