A landmark launch

William Hill has launched in the Latin American gambling market for the first time through its entry in Colombia. The new online casino and sports betting platform went live on Tuesday.

this rebranding allowed William Hill to quickly launch in Colombia

The origin of this launch is William Hill’s acquisition of a majority stake in locally-licensed operator Alfabet S.A.S. last December. The local operator had an online gambling license from the Colombian gambling regulator, Coljuegos. William Hill rebranded the platform from BetAlfa, which had been operating in the Colombian market since 2018. This rebranding allowed William Hill to quickly launch in Colombia, rather than having to set up its presence in the region from scratch.

The operator has partnered with sportsbook technology provider Btobet for its sportsbook software and player account management platform in Colombia. The launch in Colombia marks the ninth regulated market in which the operator now has active operations.

The latest step in expansion efforts

Speaking about this landmark launch, William Hill CEO Ulrik Bengtsson said: “I am thrilled to see WilliamHill.co launched within such a short timeframe. This launch includes the full integration of the Alfabet team into our international business hub in Malta and marks our first entry into a regulated Latin American state.”

He added that his company is looking forward to offering a safe and very competitive product to the Colombian market.

A major aspect of William Hill’s global expansion efforts is cracking the burgeoning online gambling market in North America. The operator has had a strong presence in the US sports betting sector for some time. On April 23, US casino company Caesars Entertainment officially acquired William Hill in a deal worth ￡2.9bn ($4.1bn). Caesars will be rebranding the William Hill US online and retail sportsbooks as part of the takeover.

Caesars reportedly plans to sell William Hill’s non-US assets. Among the parties who have an interest in these assets are 888 Holdings, Betsson, Kindred Group, and Apollo Global Management. William Hill still has significant retail sports betting assets in the UK, in particular.

A market with great potential

The Latin American market is seen as being one of the biggest growth opportunities for gambling companies in the coming years. Numerous areas in the region are looking at expanding gambling laws, including Brazil and the Argentine capital city of Buenos Aires.

Some other major operators have already announced their plans to launch in the Colombian market, including Entain Plc through its bwin brand and Flutter Entertainment through its Betfair brand. The latter secured a five-year operating license in February from the Coljuegos, making it the 17th operator to gain approval.