The Kindred Group has announced that it is pulling Unibet from the Pennsylvania gambling market on June 21. The company declared plans last November to leave the North American market entirely.
Unibet had a tough time carving out significant market share in the Keystone State.
With no imminent launches scheduled, Pennsylvania will be down to 20 PA online casinos in a couple of months.
Unibet to leave PA gambling market in June
When the Kindred Group announced it was leaving North America, including Pennsylvania, it was a matter of when, not if. There is now a firm date on the calendar.
When entering the Unibet online casino site, there is a pop-up with information about the operator’s final days in Pennsylvania. It reads:
“Unibet will be exiting Pennsylvania on June 21st, 2024. However, as we approach this date, you can continue to play as normal.”
It has removed all progressive PA slots as contributions have been reimbursed to players on March 22.
Unibet offered an online casino and a sportsbook, too. While the operator is leaving in June, it won’t accept any sports wagers after May 20.
Players are encouraged to withdraw money from their account before the closure date. If not, players will be mailed a check with the address on file.
Customer service will be available for a year after the June exit.
Operator could not compete in Pennsylvania gambling space
Despite Unibet leaving the PA market, it wasn’t because of a lack of effort. The company launched a new platform last summer, offering better security and obtaining better analytics to implement a personalized marketing strategy for users.
That clearly did not work, as Unibet finished last in almost every month in online casino revenue since July. The sportsbook didn’t do much better, finishing 11th or 12th out of 13 PA online sportsbooks every month since the summer.
Unfortunately, leaving North America is going to affect 300 jobs, saving the company approximately $40 million. Nils Andén, Interim CEO of Kindred Group, said in November:
“The cost reduction actions announced today are both necessary and decisive. While it is never a desire to inform valued colleagues of redundancies, this puts us in a stronger position to secure long-term growth for Kindred across our locally regulated core markets.”
Leaving the North American market allows the Kindred Group to focus on overseas markets such as Western European and Nordic countries.
While Pennsylvania doesn’t have a limit on operators, the state will be down one. Perhaps an operator such as Hard Rock, who is looking to expand, starts eyeing the Keystone State as a potential destination.
