iGaming solutions provider Aspire Global has announced that its online sportsbetting platform has been approved by regulators in Portugal and that the innovation is now set to go live on the NossaAposta.pt domain from local firm Cofina Media in time for the start of the 2018 FIFA World Cup in June.

Aspire Global explained that the NossaAposta.pt site launched in September after receiving the Servicos de Regulacao e Inspecao de Jogos’ twelfth iGaming license before declaring that it expects the Portuguese sportsbetting market ‘to do very well’ in the run-up to the football tournament owing to the fact that the nation’s team is the defending European champion.

“We are delighted to launch a sportbook with an operator of the caliber of NossaAposta.pt,” read a March 5 statement from Tsachi Maimon, Chief Executive Officer for Aspire Global. “As the World Cup approaches, the ability to drive traffic and provide sportsbetting will be the key to achieving optimal growth in the exciting Portuguese market.”

Stockholm-listed Aspire Global stated that it will now be active in six regulated markets encompassing Portugal, the United Kingdom, Malta, Italy, Belgium and Denmark and it expects almost 70% of its revenues this year to come from jurisdictions that are currently or soon to be regulated. In terms of the Portuguese market, it detailed that the online gaming sector recorded gross gaming revenues of slightly over $151.5 million last year with nearly $84 million of this coming from sportsbetting activities.