Bwin signs with BBH Sport whilst seeking out Polish license

Holding’s European online betting subsidiary Bwin has chosen sports marketing agency BBH Sport as its lead creative agency.

The marketing company is one of the fastest growing specialised agencies concentrating on creating high impact sports advertising campaigns. Nonetheless, Bwin is the first sports betting brand to be managed by BBH Sport.

Ewan Paterson, Founding Partner of BBH Sport comments: “Sport, betting and an iconic brand with huge ambitions for game-changing creativity – opportunities don’t come any more exciting. We’re thrilled to be appointed and can’t wait to start working with the Bwin team.”

GVC Chief Marketing Adam Lewis adds: “We are delighted to be working with BBH, they delivered an impressive pitch which really captured our vision. All teams are now gearing up for a lot of hard work and I’m looking forward to the creative process and driving Bwin forward.”

Meanwhile GVC has raised its annual dividend due to the continual benefits it has reaped since its £1.1bn acquisition of Bwin. GVC Chief Executive, Kenny Alexander says: “We always expected we could return Bwin to growth, but the growth potential for the group has been greater than we expected... I think there’s more to come.”

Furthermore, Bwin has bucked the trend and applied for a license, allowing it to offer its services on the Polish market, despite the 12% betting turnover tax that is about to be implemented later this month.

A number of operators have exited the market following regulatory changes, claiming that the Polish market is now unprofitable, and that the government is creating favourable conditions for state-owned firm Totalizator Sportowy.

Operators Energybet, William Hill, OlympicBet, bet365, and Pinnacle have all announced their withdrawal, although Bwin is taking the opposite approach to the new regulatory situation.