Circle Squared Partners: "There will inevitably be a search for the next major territory to open up and offer expansion opportunities"

Circle Squared Partners had an eventful 2024, supporting gambling stakeholders amid rising M&A activity, the rollout of Brazil's new regulatory framework, and the emergence of alternative betting models. 

From M&A due diligence and migration reviews to market comparisons and organizational capability assessments, Circle Squared worked with companies across Latin America, Europe, the United States, and Canada.

In an interview with Yogonet, Clyde Harris and Mick d'Ancona from Circle Squared Partners share their perspectives on the year's biggest trends and their role in supporting the industry. They also discuss the challenges and opportunities expected in 2025, with Brazil and new market expansions at the center of attention.

Looking back at 2024, how would you assess the year for the gambling industry? What were some of the major takeaways from the past 12 months, in terms of trends, major developments, and technologies?

It's been a busy year for the industry. There's been lots of innovation and lots of M&A activity as usual.

There was obviously a huge focus on Brazil as everyone tried to get to grips with the regulations as they were published and the major international players developed their strategies to enter the market. It will be very interesting to see how the competitive landscape in Brazil shapes up over the course of 2025.

2024 was the year when everyone noticed what was happening with sweepstakes and other ways of offering betting/prediction products (such as binary options) as an alternative to traditional sports betting and casino offerings in the U.S. It will be fascinating to see how regulators and traditional betting companies respond in the year ahead.

Taking into account Clyde's experience in sports betting in specific, having been part of major industry players such as Ladbrokes, what can you tell us about how this vertical developed in specific in 2024?

The drive to improve sports betting product offerings never goes away. The long-term trends towards an ever-greater focus on in-play products and algorithmic trading continued in 2024.

There has obviously been a huge focus on BetBuilder (or Same Game Parlay) offerings over the last few years and the levels that the top operators have got to now are really impressive. The range of markets, the quality of presentation, the ability to combine many selections and different games in a multiple, the ability to show the state of play for each part of the bet, and the ability to cashout these very complex bet combinations, it really is a great product offering and a real technical feat.

We've also seen some operators get to a really high level of offering in terms of both player props and microbetting. There's plenty of innovation happening out there.

In which ways did Circle Squared accompany the development of the gambling industry in 2024? How did Circle Squared help companies, from start-ups to established operators, navigate the complexities of this sector?

We've been lucky enough to work with some really great companies over the last year, ranging from huge international conglomerates to small start-ups and everything in between.

Some of the biggest projects we've worked on have been technical due diligence in support of M&A activity—coming in to provide a detailed evaluation of the target's product and technical assets and capabilities.

But we've worked on a whole range of other projects as well including migration reviews, migration planning, organizational capability assessments, product evaluation, market comparison, and so on.

And the projects have spanned Europe, Latin America, the United States, and Canada as well as the UK and Ireland—so it's been a really good range.

What are the main challenges and opportunities you see in the online gaming industry in the upcoming 12-month period? Do you anticipate major changes in regulation, consumer preferences, and technologies for 2025?

Brazil will still be a major focus for many operators, and we would expect that to be a very fluid landscape with lots of changes over the course of 2025.

There will inevitably be a search for the next major territory to open up and offer significant expansion opportunities to the big players. It's hard to say where that will be, but it's safe to say somewhere will emerge sooner rather than later.

It will be fascinating to see how alternative offerings (like sweepstakes and binary options) develop in the U.S. and how regulators and established sportsbooks and casinos respond.