Polish-facing sports betting brand STS has secured an advertising rights arrangement with the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA). Now owned by Entain, the operator has secured the right to conduct marketing activities for the UEFA Europa League and the UEFA Europa Conference League in Poland.

This will expand the sports sector presence of Entain, which already partners with the two leagues in question. With Entain having acquired STS, the Polish brand will also be able to conduct UEFA-oriented campaigns.

Now activated by STS in Poland, the rights will allow the Polish operator to appeal to soccer fans across Europe. The operator’s logo will be visible during matches of Polish teams, promoting its wagering products.

At the same time, STS promised to launch a variety of local promotions for sports fans in the country. Lucky fans will even be able to win tickets for some of the hottest European soccer matches.

As the largest private operator in Poland, STS is firmly committed to supporting the sports sector. Already boasting partnerships with many clubs across multiple sports, the operator is also the official sponsor of Poland’s national soccer team.

Entain’s Takeover Continues to Benefit STS

STS’ chief marketing officer, Paweł Rabantek, commented on the activation of the advertising rights. According to him, the recent takeover by Entain brings a “number of benefits” for his team, including the opportunity to expand STS’ marketing activities and reinforce its position in Poland’s gambling market.

Rabantek also expressed his happiness about the implementation of all possible advertising services both within the UEFA Europa League and UEFA Europa Conference League competitions from the first match day.

Rabantek teased that fans can expect many exciting promotions.

STS Dominates the Polish Market

STS was acquired by Entain in June for approximately $945 million. Approved by STS’ two major shareholders, Mateusz Juroszek and Zbigniew Juroszek, the deal saw STS join the global Entain family.

Currently boasting around 800,000 active users and a network of 400+ physical betting shops, STS is an undisputed leader in the Polish gaming industry.

Two weeks ago, the gambling and betting company published its results for the first half of the year, strengthening its leadership position and maintaining its momentum. The company’s metrics increased across the board, attesting to the effectiveness of STS’ strategy.

In other news, PandaScore just debuted in Poland thanks to a partnership with the local betting leader. Under the deal, the former company supplied its cutting-edge esports betting products to STS. 

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STS, the leading sports betting operator in Poland, announced it forged a new deal, allowing it to expand its esports offering. The company unveiled Monday it joined forces with Twain Sport for the delivery of two new games. As a result, Twain Sport’s games provider, BetGames, delivered two esports variations for STS’ customers. Those are T-basket 24/7, an ebasketball title, as well as T-kick 24/7, an efootball game.

Expanding its esports portfolio marks an important milestone for the leading Polish betting operator. The delivery of new games is expected to help complement the growth of the operator, engage with new audiences and help retain existing clients.

The newly expanded esports portfolio comes on the heels of an important deal announced by STS. Last month, the company confirmed it joined forces with GKS Katowice. Under the terms of the collaboration, the leading betting and gaming operator agreed to sponsor all of the club’s teams. At the same time, it vowed to deliver different promotional offers for GKS Katowice fans.

The Two Esports Games Deliver Unstoppable Entertainment

But what can esports fans expect from the two new titles provided by BetGames? T-basket 24/7 and T-kick 24/7 bring unrivaled and unstoppable esports action. The titles present professional athletes in a one-on-one match with the goal being to score as many points as possible within one minute or 60 seconds.

According to Twain Sport, the game screen presents two halves of a small field, which can be a basketball or a football one. The fields are presented one next to the other and each athlete needs to take a ball from a highlighted rack that is chosen randomly and then score a point. For each point, the athletes need to hit one highlighted field out of a total of six.

An important aspect of the two new esports titles that will be available for STS’ customers is the frequency of the game rounds. While matches last only 1 minute, games start every 120 seconds. What’s more important is that the games are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, providing unstoppable action for esports fans. With 30 games played every hour, T-kick 24/7 and T-basket 24/7 deliver thrilling entertainment via 720 games every single day.

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Poland’s leading sports betting operator, STS, has unveiled an unprecedented deal with GKS Katowice, a Polish sports club. Under the agreement, the bookmaker will sponsor all of the club’s teams.

The current deal is notably the first multi-section sponsorship in the country. It has been signed for a year but can be extended further.

The agreement will see the operator provide support to GKS Katowice’s men’s and women’s soccer teams, its volleyball team and its ice hockey team. The agreement is in line with the company’s overall strategy, STS’s chief marketing officer, Paweł Rabantek, noted.

According to the official announcement, GKS Katowice’s women’s soccer team will wear the bookmaker’s logo during the autumn round. In the spring, as per the contract, the logo will be moved to the sleeve.

STS’s logo will also feature on the sleeves of GKS Katowice’s ice hockey team, men’s volleyball team and men’s soccer team. The logo will also be visible on LED screens across the stadium at Bukowe street, in the hall of the Szopienice Sports Center, and at the Satelita ice ring. Finally, the operator’s logo will also appear across the club’s social media and digital outlets.

In addition to promoting the gambling company, GKS Katowice will team up with the operator for multiple fan-oriented activations.

Before the first match of Poland’s top-flight league, STS will conduct a special promotional campaign, providing new customers with a special code. The code will provide GKS Katowice fans with free bets, allowing them to place more wagers throughout the season.

Existing customers, on the other hand, will get risk-free bet offers and dedicated odds for the first match of the league.

STS has also planned similar promotions for the first matches of leagues involving GKS Katowice’s other teams.

The Development Shows GKS Katowice Is Ready for Big Deals

GKS Katowice’s business development manager, Karol Kuśka, shared his excitement about the agreement and thanked STS for the trust it placed in the club. He shared his confidence in this multi-section arrangement and the upcoming collaborative activations.

Kuśka concluded that the current deal is a testament that the club is ready for partnerships with large companies.

Paweł Rabantek, STS’s chief marketing officer, also shared his thoughts on the matter, saying that his company is thrilled about supporting Polish sports. He noted that the sponsorship represents support on a local level as well, considering STS’s links with Katowice, where its headquarters are located.

Rabantek added that STS’s deal with GKS Katowice highlights the operator’s commitment to supporting local sports and underlines its desire to be a leading sports betting operator in Poland.

Earlier this year, STS posted strong Q2 results ahead of its takeover by Entain.

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Ahead of the finalization of the acquisition by Entain, STS Group, the leading Polish sportsbook operator, released a new trading update, outlining the strong growth of the company for the second quarter of 2023. For Q2 of this year, the recorded amount of stakes hit PLN 1.103 billion ($278 million). This result, when compared to the PLN 1.066 billion ($268.6 million) result from the second quarter of last year, marked an increase of 3%.

When it comes to net gaming revenue (NGR), STS reported significant growth. For Q2 in 2022, NGR reported by the company was PLN 135 million ($34 million). In contrast, NGR for the second quarter of this year hit PLN 170 million ($42.8 million), a result that marks a solid growth of 26% year-over-year.

GGR for Q2 this year was PLN 298 million ($75.1 million), judging by the latest trading update released by the company. A comparison to the corresponding period shows that GGR in Q2 2023 increased by 14%, considering that the result from the same period in 2022 was PLN 263 million ($66.3 million). It’s important to mention that the latest results exclude the company’s Estonia and UK operations.

Mateusz Juroszek, STS Holding’s CEO, explained that the latest figures are a testament to the company’s strong growth and performance within the market in Poland. He spoke about the potential of the iGaming sector and acknowledged that STS is able to grow within the market in the country. “We hope to record the highest player activity in the last quarter of this year,” explained Juroszek in conclusion.

“The operating results for Q2 2023 confirm that STS is performing well in the Polish market. The potential of the domestic iGaming industry is high and STS is able to effectively exploit its market position.“

Mateusz Juroszek, CEO of STS Holding

Entain Secures Antitrust Approval for the Acquisition of STS

Entain’s takeover of STS was announced last month. At the time, the company confirmed it plans to acquire the leading Polish bookmaker in a deal with a £750 million ($945 million) price tag. The proposal saw the approval of two of the company’s largest shareholders, Mateusz Juroszek and Zbigniew Juroszek, that collectively own some 70% of STS.

Earlier this week, Entain confirmed that Entain Holdings secured antitrust approval for the acquisition of STS from the president of the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection. The aforementioned approval marked an important milestone in Entain’s plan to acquire the leading sports betting operator.

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Eminence Capital, the investment firm located in New York that currently owns around 13.2 million shares in the popular FTSE 100 sports betting and gaming group Entain, has published an open letter addressing the latter’s board of directors in regard to their proposal to acquire STS Holdings. 

The Harshly Critical Letter, Accusing Entain of Lack of Logic 

In the respective letter signed by chief executive officer/chief information officer Ricky Sandler, Eminence Capital has severely criticized Entain’s decision to purchase STS, describing STS as “at best nice to have”. 

At the same time, the investment company used the letter to strengthen its opinion that Entain was not making use of any logical thinking by continuing to pursue the said agreement which would value STS at 12 x EBITDA while issuing Entain stock at 7 x EBITDA.

Eminence also used the argument of Entain’s decreasing stock by over 8% which has generated a loss of £650 million ($830 million) in terms of value on the market. The amount is similar to the one that Entain would have to pay in exchange for STS Holdings.

Entain’s leadership was also criticized in a similar manner for expressing its support for the potential acquisition. Eminence Capital used the expression “tone deaf” to further explain its stance while adding that the management team does not understand the way finances work or, even worse, to their opinion, they think of shareholders as being naive. 

Eminence explained that while it is interested in supporting Entain in its pursuit of acquisitions and mergers that can be considered rational, it would refuse to fund them with equity that is highly undervalued. This, believes Eminence, would represent a strategy that would destroy the value for shareholders as well as an empire. 

Only Supporting Attractive, Value-Creating Decisions 

The investment firm further explained that, so far, it had participated in several appealing paths that had the potential to create value while raising capital to fund its merger and acquisition initiatives.

Nonetheless, when it comes to the decision to acquire STS, Eminence has adopted a completely opposite stance, especially in the context of Entain presumably purchasing a company while saying no other takeover bids from different companies at better prices. Eminence mentioned MGM as one of those companies. 

Eminence has also warned about the risk of shareholders losing their confidence in Entain’s capacity to allocate its capital to generate value in the long run. In turn, this could lead to a decision to support the sale of the company to MGM at a lower price than the previous estimations.

In April, Entertain announced that it acquired all of the shares of 365scores. 

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