Change of board at Bet-AT-Home

The sports betting provider Bet-AT-Home will change in the management level in the future. In its recently published press release, the Austrian Group announced that the current CEO Franz Ömer will still vacate its current post in February 2023 and leave the company. Co-CEO Michael Quatember will also resign.

Difficult times for Bet-at-Home

Ömer is a co-founder of Bet-AT-Home and has been leading the fortunes of the sports betting provider for several years. Under its leadership, the brand not only established itself in the industry, but also ventured into other areas of activity. The group holds one through its subsidiaries Maltese concession for online casino games. The license allows Bet-AT-Home to offer your gaming product in this division in the entire room of the European Union.

bet-at-home. Bet-at-Home.com AG was founded in 1999 and works in the areas of online sports betting and online gaming. In public perception, the brand is mainly associated with sports betting. According to its own statements, the Austrian company counts around 5.5 million registered customers.

However, the wind turned in the gambling industry. Many EU countries have theirs Legislation adapted for online gambling. Industry players are faced with more regulated markets, which has recently led to some problems in Bet-AT-Home. Have so The legal adjustments in Austria And USA led to the bookmaker has completely abandoned its online casino offer.

Reaction to crisis situation?

According to the press release, the change of management on the board is based on Franz Ömer and Michael Quatember. The company’s two leading heads had informed the board of directors To leave group at their own request. More information has not been announced, but industry experts assume that Ömer and Quatember voluntarily cleared their posts in response to the ongoing crisis situation.

Neuer Chef is due to Marco Falchetto from March 2023 will. The press release states that he has extensive know-how in the areas of online sports betting and online casino. He has collected his knowledge for many years as a manager and consultant for various groups from the gambling industry.

Trend reversal possible? Marco Falchetto has had plenty of experience in the gambling industry, but he has not yet found himself in the role of the leading head of a large company. It remains to be seen with which leadership style falchetto uses the trend reversal and resolve the crisis situation.

Numerous problem areas

In the latest forecast for the 2023 financial year, Bet-AT-Home expect a gross competition and gaming yield between 50 and 60 million $ . Compared to last year, the forecast business figures mean a drastic decline. In 2021, the group was able to generate even more than 100 million $ . The falling sales figures are not only due to the legal hurdles in USA and Austria. The problem areas are much more complex.

According to industry media, Bet-AT-Home currently has several complaints from customers on their neck. The judicial disputes would go back to the Maltese subsidiary, which has operated the online casino offer until the end. So the plaintiffs insisted on the Reimbursement of your lost game missions. If the lawsuits are approved, the bookmaker threatens financial damage of 24.6 million $ . The current location is responsible for the fact that Bet-AT-Home put its casino offer in Austria on hold.

License model in Austria. With its gaming policy, Austria pursues an enormously restrictive approach. Private providers are not allowed to operate on the local market. Only government companies have necessary licenses. The Austrian gaming market is accordingly monopolized. A condition that Claus Retschitzegger, spokesman for Bet-AT-Home, looks at extremely critically. Without a market opening or a fair license model, there will be inevitably negative effects for all industry players.

Effects of Corona pandemic

The bookmaker should also have accepted big losses because of the Corona pandemic. The group has not yet properly recovered from the economic damage. Through the temporary elimination of numerous sporting events the foundation had been withdrawn from the entire industry. The share price on the stock exchange reacted extremely to the continued exceptional situation. The stock value of Bet-AT-Home had meanwhile fallen by 62 percent.

Inventorial in crisis situation. In the first major lockdown, the world stood still and put the global economy to the test. Similar to many other branches of industry, the sports betting industry also had to reinvent itself. Many bookmakers offered unusual alternatives for their customers. For example, these had the opportunity to bet on events from E-Sport. Sports simulations based on statistics and algorithms also found their way into the portfolio of numerous bookmakers.