Interview with Benjie Cherniak, Managing Director, Don Best Sports, SG Digital

Do you think we’re starting to see a move away from illegal sports betting and how much work is yet to be done convincing bettors to go legal?

So, I think that when you talk about the legal markets versus the illegal wagering, it’s going to be a process. You start with a point where everything’s illegal and the only legal is in the [inaudible 00:19] now you have New Jersey opening up, Mississippi, it’s not something – and West Virginia, Delaware and other states forthcoming. It’s not a situation where overnight every single illegal punter will go legal, it’s going to be a process that’s going to be dependent on a number of factors and a key one is going to be us improving and creating a better mousetrap than what they have in the illegals markets, and I think that as we as an industry come together and create great products, its going to help drive that migration to the legal shores.

Do you think the authorities are starting to take a more serious stance on illegal sports wagering?

I think that they will, again it’s not an overnight process, I think that with where it’s at now, it’s a question of getting some of the states live and operations live and right now it’s just a few states but there will be many, many more in the years ahead. So, I think that we’re going to see more of a push of the forces towards limitating the illegal space, but it’s going to be a long-term process.

What attracted you to becoming involved with Betting on Sports America 2019?

Well, I think it’s going to be a ground breaking moment and ground breaking event, because you take the most established sports betting brand from a conference standpoint globally, bring it into the US market, into the heart of New York and New Jersey, which has become really the epicenter of legislated sports wagering in the US, and if you bring the expertise of the betting on sports people have of putting the conference together, with the enthusiasm we have now amongst the betting operators in the US it’s going to be a great event.

What made you want to participate in Betting on Sports 2018?

Well participating and betting on sports for [inaudible 01:46] in our organization is a no brainer, it’s a global sports betting contest that allows us to connect with existing clients of ours across the globe as well as network with potential new customers as well the industry friends.

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