Las Vegas-headquartered lottery and gaming machines innovator, Scientific Games Corporation (NASDAQ: SGMS) announced Monday that its Demirören Holdings joint venture Şans Girişim has been awarded a 10-year exclusive contract for İddaa, Turkey’s only legal sports betting company.

According to the official press release (pdf)…

The supplier will provide its full turnkey sports betting solution to Turkish bettors via mobile and across at least 5,300 retail points-of-sale in order to ensure a competitive large-scale sportsbook.

“thrilled to win this significant opportunity”

The Middle Eastern country that straddles eastern Europe and western Asia is the second-largest state-sponsored sports betting market in Europe and among the top three globally in sales.

Commenting on the significant award, Chief Executive Officer for Scientific Games, Barry Cottle, said…

“On behalf of our joint venture with Sans Digital, we are thrilled to win this significant opportunity to operate the only legal sports betting concession in Turkey. This important contract is evidence that our efforts over the last several years to create a superior, all-inclusive sports betting offering is coming together through collaboration between Scientific Games’ Lottery and Digital groups. We are honored by the trust given to us by Sans Digital and the Government of Turkey.”

“we selected Scientific Games as our ideal partner”

Sans Digital Board Member, Sinan Oktay, added…

“Demirören Group is a family-run conglomerate which holds leading positions in energy, media and real estate and has set a goal to be a leading player in technology and digital services. We believe that gaming is heavily dependent on technology and that this deal is an important first step towards our goal. After evaluating many of the leading companies in the global sports betting industry, we selected Scientific Games as our ideal partner. Our decision was based on their proven track record in both retail and interactive sports betting, and their ability to provide us with a best-in-class and fully-integrated offering that included risk management services. We value Scientific Games’ commitment to helping us grow the Turkish market and look forward to our long-term partnership.”

Kerastaris resignation:

Athens-listed Intralot‘s joint venture in Turkey, Inteltek, had operated the sports betting product [İddaa] since 2004, with the contract set to expire in August. Shortly after the firm confirmed the loss of the bid, it announced that Chief Executive Officer, Antonios Kerastaris, had resigned from the business on Friday.

Winning tender:

The sports betting management tender for the Spor Toto State Organization was held on February 13, 2019, with Şans Girişim offering the top bid, a 0.2% revenue-sharing deal, down its previous bid of 2.1%, while the rival bid from Inteltekm offered 0.5%, according to the Hürriyet Daily News.