Omnichannel crucial for operators targeting Balkans gambling growth, says former MaxBet MD

“Retail is on a completely different level,” Igaming Advisor founder and CEO Miucin told the audience at iGB L!VE last week, noting players can smoke, consume alcohol and food and watch sports in local venues.

Similarly, fast deposit and withdrawal opportunities at these sites are hugely important to the local players.

Up to 4,000 betting shops and casino venues are split across the 20 retail licences available in Serbia, Miucin said. Muicin, who previously held a senior role at NSoft, served as managing director of MaxBet, the Serbian operator acquired by Flutter Entertainment last year.

Balkans gambling entrants face barriers to entry

While he believes tier one operators are eyeing up the region, he warned there are significant barriers to entry for those looking to gain a foothold in Balkans gambling markets.

“It is one of the most difficult markets to operate in because of the huge impact of retail,” he explained. “Players in the Balkans do not have trust in the fully online brands.”

Yearly growth for the Balkans market is around 10%-15% with retail accounting for 50% of the market today. Together Serbia and Croatia generate up to €100m in online GGR per month.

No new brands have fully localised

Miucin said he was advocating for Balkans gambling entrants to offer a combination of online and retail, as he believes online-only brands will have to invest significantly to gain any market share.

“Circus operated for six years and they never had success; they are a Belgian brand and they were not able to have a successful business because they did not adjust locally. They did not have retail shops or all the deposit methods.”

Localisation is a hugely important component for ensuring success in the market. He said Bet365 was an example of a site that had not localised its offering in Serbia and Croatia.

“None of the brands that have entered the market have fully localised,” he said.

“Bet365 as an example came into the market and think whatever they are doing in Germany will be successful in the Balkans, but that is not the case because the betting market and preferred bet types are completely different.”

Flutter entered the region with its €141m acquisition of Max Bet in 2023, while Entain bought SuperSport in 2022 as part of its wider Entain CEE push into the region and Betsson entered Serbia with its Rizk online casino brand in 2023.