After purchasing some seven other enterprises over the course of 2017, Better Collective has announced that it ended the year last week by entering the regulated Polish market via the acquisition of Warsaw-based Goal.pl Group.

Established in 2004, Copenhagen-headquartered Better Collective is a developer of digital platforms for the betting tip, bookmaker information and iGaming communities. It stated that Goal.pl Group is run by local sports journalist Cezary Brzuzy and is responsible for over 15 domains purveying a range of information on sports including soccer.

The Swedish firm declared that its purchase of Goal.pl Group, which operates the WislaKrakow.com news domain for fans of top-flight Polish soccer side Wisla Krakow, will help it to advance its long-term aim of ‘expanding its presence within regulated markets’ as the acquisition’s assets have been built around ‘sports journalism and high-quality sports content’.

Michal Kopec, Mergers and Acquisitions Head for Better Collective, proclaimed that he is ‘very excited’ about the purchase of Goal.pl Group as he sees ‘a lot of potential in the sportsbetting sector in Poland’ ahead of this summer’s 2018 FIFA World Cup. He moreover asserted that he was optimistic as a growing local economy and the recent regulation of the nation’s sportsbetting market has led to a proliferation of ‘new operators applying for Polish sportbetting licenses’.

“Goal.pl Group’s previous owner has done a great job in developing the network and we are keen to add our own expertise to bring the sites to the next level,” read a statement from Kopec. “Plus, after making seven other acquisitions across Europe in 2017, I’m personally very happy to close out the year with a deal being reached in my home nation of Poland.”

Better Collective additionally detailed that Goal.pl Group was established in 2002 while Brzuzy will be remaining as the firm’s Chief Executive Officer post-acquisition in order to work ‘in close cooperation’ with its teams in Copenhagen.

For his part, Brzuzy declared that the sale of Goal.pl Group to Better Collective will enable his firm to ‘further develop’ its portfolio of websites in order to make these domains ‘a more attractive place for both football fans and our business partners’ such as the many licensed bookmakers already operating in Poland.