PointsBet Expands to Europe with a New Dublin HQ

US sportsbook operator PointsBet opened its first European headquarters in Ireland’s capital city of Dublin. The new HQ will serve as a staging ground for the operator’s future expansion efforts in the Old Continent and will initially house 70 employees.

PointsBet’s Numerous Irish Ties Made Dublin an Obvious Choice

PointsBet’s expansion in Europe was heralded by its acquisition of Banach Technology, an Irish startup company specializing in sports betting software development. The operator acquired Banach in March 2021 for $36.5million (€34.9million) and quickly integrated its technology into its products. The sportsbook has close ties to another Irish company. Susquehanna International Group (SIG) recently invested $66 million in PointsBet, and one of its subsidiaries provides the operator with quantitative modeling and analytics services.

Dublin is a logical first choice for the sportsbook. The city is one of the world’s most prominent tech hubs. Several famous brands such as Google, Facebook, TikTok, and Amazon have headquarters there. Dublin’s healthy ecosystem for tech startups, young and skilled workforce, and heavy government investment in innovations make it a perfect home for leading software developers, many IT service providers, and a significant number of US tech companies. 

The Operator Will Use the European Office to Support US Expansion

Johnny Aitken, PointsBet’s US CEO, called the company’s new Dublin HQ a strategic decision that would lead to “significant economic value in both the Irish and US markets going forward.” He expressed his desire to increase collaboration between the US and Irish business, noting several ways this could be achieved, such as developing sustainable local projects, creating new high-tech jobs, and promoting US sports in Ireland. Aitken hopes to eventually grow the company’s Dublin office up to 300 employees over the next five years. 

PointsBet first launched in Australia in 2017 and was listed on the Australian Securities Exchange two years later. The company raised €46million in investments, promising to expand in the USA. It delivered and is now a prominent operator in Canada and ten US states. Its shares have seen a steady rise since Susquehanna’s investment deal and currently sits at $2.88.

The operator’s Europe headquarters is currently focusing on providing software, development, and technical support to its core markets, where the company is directing most of its efforts. It does not plan to expand its betting services into Europe in the foreseeable future.