Kindred Group has announced it is shutting down its North American gaming market operations in the first half of 2024.
As a result, Unibet Sportsbook won’t be an option for Indiana sports bettors next year.
The Unibet brand becomes the latest North American sports betting casualty as its parent company prepares to close up shop in the US and Canada.
The Indiana online sports betting market will lose an option. However, the loss shouldn’t impact the overall betting numbers too much.
Kindred Group leaving Indiana online gambling market
Unibet Sportsbook is just one of around a dozen Indiana sports betting operators in the state. In other words, gamblers will still have plenty of options once the Kindred Group pulls Unibet out of the state next year.
The Kindred Group’s Unibet online sportsbook operates in Indiana and five other markets in North America:
- Arizona
- New Jersey
- Pennsylvania
- Virginia
- Ontario
Exiting North America affects around 300 jobs and will save the company approximately $40 million. In a statement, Kindred Group’s interim CEO Nils Andén said the move will help the company achieve a leaner and more efficient organization focused on selective growth initiatives.
“The cost reduction actions announced today are both necessary and decisive,” said Andén. “While it is never a desire to inform valued colleagues of redundancies, this puts us in a stronger position to secure long-term growth for Kindred across our locally regulated core markets. We can now focus our resources and tech capacity towards strategic initiatives and selected markets where we see clear potential to grow our market share”
The announcement isn’t all that surprising, considering Kindred Group’s inability to impact the states in which it operates significantly. The company reported Q3 2023 revenue was down 11% year over year, with pre-tax earnings declining by 75%. It endured $6.5 million in North American losses in Q3.
Unibet Sportsbook gives up tiny piece of market share
Speaking of market share, that is something Kindred Group did not have a large handle on in Indiana.
The company runs Unibet Sportsbook in Indiana through a partnership with Horseshoe Hammond Casino. Since the launch of sports betting in Indiana, Unibet handled over $270 million in bets. That ranks seventh in the market.
Seventh is not a bad position over the past few years. However, the influx of more and more sports betting sites has taken a toll on Unibet. In October, the site recorded a handle of $686,555.
That amounts to just 0.15% of the Indiana market. To put that in perspective, DraftKings Indiana handled more than 248 times that amount in bets in October.
Indiana likely won’t miss a beat even though another operator is exiting the market. The Kindred Group will now focus on overseas markets such as Western European and Nordic countries.
