Established in 2014, SportPesa has quickly made the leap to becoming one of the largest online gaming companies in the world. With more than 12 million customers worldwide, Kenya-based SportPesa continues to develop and grow its global footprint. Prior to its planned expansion into the Italian market, the global gaming operator has decided to partner with Microgame, a top gaming solutions provider based in Benevento. With the expansion, Microgame and SportPesa will work together on an online sportsbook, casino, virtual games, bingo, poker and table game products.
With the new partnership, SportPesa’s proprietary games will enhance the Italian-facing products and the technical staff of Microgame will work with the development team of SportPesa with the integration of the content.
Commenting on the new collaboration, SportPesa Italy Country Manager, Luca Magnano, said: “We’re delighted to be teaming up with Microgame to create a best-in-class gaming experience for the Italian market. We have quickly developed a strong understanding and working relationship with our new partners and we believe that together we will soon be recognized as industry leaders in Italy,” according to the news release.
Microgame Chief Executive Officer Marco Castaldo added: “We are extremely proud to have been chosen outsourcing partner by a successful international group such as SportPesa for its launch in Italy. We are confident about the great potential of this project and will deploy all the resources necessary to ensure its success.”
The move into the Italian gambling market comes just a few months after SportPesa announced they would no longer be supporting local sports clubs in Kenya due to a new revenue tax. Legislation was passed during the summer that would see online gambling operators having to pay a uniform 35% net revenue tax. CEO of Sportpesa, Ronald Karauri, stated that this high tax rate would affect the operations of the firm and the current partners would need to play accordingly due to the tax changes.