Entain Acquires Armstrong Sports for £203 Million

Entain is set to purchase Armstrong Sports, a specialist in sports modeling, forecasting, and analysis, for a sum of £203 million.

The deal will see Entain make an initial payment of £81 million, followed by an additional £122 million spread over a three-year period, bringing the total cost to £203 million.

Armstrong employs simulation-based predictive modeling to offer a variety of pricing and prediction services to sports betting customers. Its services are primarily concentrated on the US market, encompassing the most popular US games and leagues.

The acquisition will empower Entain to provide a comprehensive suite of end-to-end analytics, risk, and pricing capabilities for its US operations, notably BetMGM, which it operates in partnership with MGM Resorts International.

This will enhance the customer experience in US sports betting, encompassing a wider array of betting opportunities, optimized parlays, and in-play products.

The acquisition is anticipated to be finalized in the third quarter of 2023.

“We are thrilled to welcome Armstrong to the Entain family, which will allow us to expedite the development of the Entain platform,” stated Jette Nygaard-Andersen, CEO of Entain.

BetMGMs American sports wagering enterprise is poised to profit from a fresh generation of forecasting, pricing, and risk administration tools. This will be particularly advantageous for the rapidly expanding market for parlays and live betting.

The firm obtained Angstrom, a prominent provider of sports betting technology. This acquisition will furnish BetMGM patrons with an improved wagering experience, courtesy of enhanced in-house data analysis, a global platform, and a robust brand.

Angstrom’s chief executive, Sion Colley, stated that uniting forces with Entain will generate “singular and thrilling betting prospects” for American sports. He further remarked that both entities are dedicated to innovation and that their collaboration will deliver the most exceptional products and experiences to sports betting patrons.

Entain has been actively pursuing a series of acquisitions lately, both to broaden its market reach and to enhance its product offerings. In June, the company acquired Tiidal Gaming NZ, the proprietor of esports betting developer Sportsflare, for C$13.2 million.

This acquisition bestowed upon Entain a range of esports-optimized betting products, such as bet constructors and solutions enabling players to wager on their own performance. This further solidified Entain’s leadership position in esports betting, following the relaunch of Unikrn in December.

During a recent chat with iGB, Adam Greenblatt, the driving force behind the BetMGM enterprise since its launch in 2018, discussed the critical role of technology and product-driven agreements within the industry. This conversation took place last month.

The market is experiencing a surge in demand.

Entain is not the only industry leader that has stepped up its M&A strategy in recent years. Numerous other operators have been actively seeking to acquire assets in technology and product to fuel their own growth objectives.

Last month, Fanatics Betting and Gaming (FBG) secured an agreement to acquire the US operations of PointsBet Holdings. This came after FBG presented a more attractive offer, outbidding a competing acquisition proposal from DraftKings.

PointsBet shareholders overwhelmingly endorsed the FBG deal in late June. Neither PointsBet nor FBG have established a closing date for the transaction.

Looking back, similar to Entain’s acquisition of Angstrom, OpenBet acquired betting technology and trading business Multi Builder last August. This occurred before OpenBet was acquired by sports media giant Endeavor Group.

Also last summer, betting supplier Kambi announced its intention to shift its focus towards modular products rather than its comprehensive sports betting solution. It indicated that this strategy could involve a series of acquisitions.

Predictably, just a month later, Kambi acquired front-end technology specialist Shape Games for an initial price of €38.5 million.

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