Intralot misses out on Turkish sports betting monopoly

Intralot’s Inteltek subsidiary has missed out in a tender to operate Turkey’s sports betting monopoly Iddaa. The joint venture between Scientific Games and Turkish conglomerate Demirören Group has won the ten-year contract.

The SporToto State Organisation has chosen the bid from Sans Girisim, comprising Scientific Games and Demirören Group, which is active in the energy, media, retail and education sectors, to operate Iddaa. Sans Girisim’s contract begins later this year and runs to 2029.

Sans Girisim has won the right to provide a central betting system and a risk management solution for fixed-odds and pari-mutuel betting at retail locations throughout Turkey.

SporToto announced last month after an initial tender process it would choose between the two bids, and has now plumped for the company that pledged to take the lowest commission. Sans Girisim offered to receive a 0.2 per cent share of all sports wagering revenue, with Inteltek – a joint venture between Intralot and Turkish mobile phone operator Turkcell – offering 0.5 per cent.

After the confirmation of the award, Demirören chairman Yildirim Demirören quit his position as chairman of the Turkish Football Federation (TFF) to avoid a potential conflict of interest.

In a statement on the TFF website, Demirören said: “I have made this decision regarding the job I have carried out with pride and honour until today, to not leave any space for dispute and to cast a shadow over my tenure before the Turkish and world public.”