Stanleybet Group secures license to operate in Andalusia, Spain

Liverpool-headquartered gaming operator Stanleybet Group announced it is starting its operations in Andalusia, thus expanding in the Spanish market. 

The company had started the process of obtaining the license in 2019, but the pandemic slowed down the procedures. In the meantime, the firm continued to dialogue with the Andalusian authorities to complete the process. 

“Now, after obtaining the retail license for sports betting in this other highly regulated European country, we are ready to expand into a new market, Spain, which offers great opportunities for our sector. Andalusia represents an extremely vast market with a very high development potential,” Stanleybet Group CEO Giovanni Garrisi said. 

The executive unveiled that the brand will start from Malaga, where it is already working on the opening of its first shop scheduled for Q1 2023, and then it will continue to expand in other cities. 

Antonio Stanzani, Stanleybet Country Manager for Spain, added: “The Spanish model envisages two types of shops: the ‘tienda de apuestas’, a betting agency opened directly by the operator, and the ‘salon de juegos’, a slightly broader definition that includes the shop opened by private third parties, with the affiliation model.”

Stanleybet’s business model includes both types as “we believe that flexibility is one of the factors that have led us to succeed in various markets,” he explained. The company’s first shop will be a ‘tienda de apuestas’, with the goal to imprint and export its style in Andalusia. 

“We are already in contact with several Spanish entrepreneurs who have chosen Stanleybet to start thriving and lasting partnerships in the betting and gaming industry, in which we have been a leader since 1958," concluded Stanzani.