Turkey Launches Tender to Open Up Sports Betting Industry

[Wagerallsports]

[h=1]Turkey Launches Tender to Open Up Sports Betting Industry[/h]
Luke Haward, CDC Gaming Reports · January 17, 2019


Turkey has opted to boost its sports betting options, opening a tender for a ten-year contract with its state-owned sports betting operator SporToto. The firm that wins the tender will run a centralized sports betting service for fixed odds and pari-mutuel wagering, along with a risk management service. SporToto itself will remain state owned; Turkey has indicated that it intends to run some 6,000 points of sale across the nation. Only operators with more than 500 existing outlets are eligible to bid. The tender will remain open until February 11th.

The Turkish government would seem to have high hopes for this venture, predicting first-year sales of €2.7 billion and requiring that bidders explain in detail how they feel profits should be divided. The central betting system for the project is expected to be located in Ankara province. Any firm who runs it must have their headquarters within Turkey.

The Turkish government currently has a monopoly on gambling; currently, only SporToto and the Milli Piyango lottery exist in Turkey as legal gambling services. While there is no indication that this will change anytime soon, this move would seem to indicate a desire to expand on state-run services.

Gambling in Turkey has always been a politically tense issue, considering that the vast majority of the population is Muslim, and that gambling is often considered harām, or forbidden, to Muslims. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has made statements in the past expressing a dislike for the gambling industry, which does make this current move a little bit more surprising.

 

[GreenAcres]

Even though so many disprove of gambling including Erdogan, once a government realises how much more money it can make it's amazing how beliefs go out the window

 

[BMR_Brad]

There seems to be a large number of Turkish gamblers online too.

And a string of dodgy books that have exploited them.

 

[Alchera]

There are a lot of gamblers in Turkey but they generally prefer not approved websites because the firms who won the tender proves comic odds

 

[Preda]

Turkey has a debatable reputation overall. I wouldn't trust a bookmaker created in Turkey. Both land-based and online betting is legal and regulated by the Ministry of Youth and Sports, while Spor Toto is the state-run monopoly operator. The Turks are among the most passionate football fans around the world and betting is considered their favorite pastime. Currently, there are only 7 licensed betting sites in Turkey, including the state-owned Iddaa. I wonder if the option of using the services of a factoring company will be available in the betting industry. I believe it would be a good idea for everyone. There are factoring companies in Chicago that operate in a similar way, and sometimes you get the feeling that receiving the payment for the services is like betting.

 

[Oddsmaker]

A lot of PPH in Turkey and everywhere else

 

[BMR_Brad]

Seems to be a lot of bettors in Turkey based on the number of books who have tried to target the market over the years.

Or maybe it just seems like a lot to me, having seen so many complaints from Turks who have been ripped off. By Non-Turkish books.