The Mansion Group has confirmed that it will be closing its MansionBet sports betting division to UK customers at the end of March.
After a thorough examination of the market – and with the threat of more stringent regulation looming following a review of the Gambling Act, the company has decided to pull their sportsbook and instead focus their resources on their UK-facing casino brands such as Casino.com, Mansion Casino and Slots Heaven.
Important announcement.
For more information, please see our FAQs, or contact our customer support team: https://t.co/URpvgvMCrc pic.twitter.com/tDyAcIv60V
— MansionBet (@MansionBet) March 7, 2022
The firm’s chief executive, Christian Block, said:
“After careful deliberation, we have decided to cease trading our MansionBet brand. The commercial decision was a difficult one, but it does provide opportunity to focus on our casino brands, where we have a long history of excelling.”
The sportsbook’s last day of trading will be March 31, with all winning bets paid out as normal until then and ante-post flutters settled as normal until April 28. Bets due to be settled after April 28 will be refunded.
MansionBet customers can action a withdrawal request as normal if you want to remove your funds, although the firm has noted the process may take longer than normal given that they are likely to be inundated with requests.
Withdrawal requests between April 1-28 can be made by email to Mansion’s customer support team, but note that any outstanding balances that haven’t been claimed by the latter date will be donated to a responsible gambling charity.
A Sign of Things to Come?
While long overdue, the government’s review of the Gambling Act is likely to yield some of the most challenging conditions that UK bookmakers have faced in some time.
And it may be that more lower-tier bookies, unable to compete on an economic level with the Flutter and Entain brands, wave goodbye to the UK market.
That’s the opinion of industry analyst Gavin Kelleher anyway, who told the Racing Post that this could be the start of an ‘ongoing trend’.
“Mansion Group are not a main operator in the UK, but had a sub-optimal level of market share. They’ve decided to take the difficult decision to close that and focus on casino products, which I understand,” he said.
“They relaunched their sportsbook, and it was hard for them to take a share of the market if you think about competing with Flutter, Entain, 888, William Hill and bet365. It is more and more competitive in the UK to get a share and justify a sportsbook, which is expensive to run.
“I think this is a reflection of the competitiveness of the market and regulatory headwinds in the UK. We’ve seen other smaller operators leave the market, and it’s probably going to be an ongoing trend.”
The outcomes of the government’s Gambling Act review are expected to be revealed in the spring, with items including customer affordability checks potentially on the agenda.