Kindred Group announced that it is shutting down its operations in North America, completing a widely anticipated cessation after conducting a strategic review of the division.

The pullout covers a handful of U.S. markets where the Malta-based company’s Unibet sportsbook is present, as well as Ontario. Citing the competitive nature of the North American market, Kindred noted that the long-term outlook for the company has changed since its entry shortly after the historic PASPA decision. Moreover, remaining in North America would have required Kindred to devote significant resources to close the gap with the leaders in the market, a task the company found to be “untenable.”

The decision affects sports bettors in five states where the Unibet betting app is available: New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Arizona, Virginia, and Indiana. Unibet, which also offers iGaming in New Jersey and Pennsylvania, withdrew from Iowa at the end of last year and has already terminated its market access agreement in Ohio at a cost of approximately £4 million ($5.06 million).

Word of the decision came via an update of Kindred’s strategic review, which began in April, with the company determining it could realize £40 million ($50.7 million) annually in gross cost savings by leaving the United States and Canada. Kindred said reallocating those resources to other core markets “will improve ability to capitalize on core market potential and gain market share.”

Kindred will eliminate about 300 jobs with the closure, creating annualized savings of around £40 million ($51 million). The company expects to depart from the U.S. and Canada by the end of the second quarter of 2024.

“The cost reduction actions announced today are both necessary and decisive”, said Nils Andén, interim CEO of Kindred Group, in a statement released by the company. “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. We can now focus our resources and tech capacity towards strategic initiatives and selected markets where we see clear potential to grow our market share.”

Unsurprisingly, Unibet’s best-performing state among the five where full sports betting revenue numbers are available by operator was Pennsylvania, where it also offers iGaming. It was one of the first sportsbooks to enter the Keystone State in November 2019 and has generated overall sports betting handle of $263.2 million since taking its first wagers.

The $43.2 million in accepted bets through the first 10 months of 2023, though, represented just 0.7% of the $5.8 billion handle in Pennsylvania this year. Unibet failed to attain a 1% market share in Arizona, Virginia, and Indiana as well. Its combined handle this year in those states was just shy of $15.6 million.

10/x #sportsbettingtwitter #GamblingTwitter

— Chris Altruda (@AlTruda73) November 17, 2023

Unibet pulled out of Iowa at the end of last year after just 15 months of conducting business, unable to overcome the $6 million it had to pay out to Jim “Mattress Mack” McIngvale last November after accepting his $1 million futures wager on the Houston Astros to win the 2022 World Series. It finished business in the Hawkeye State with a minus-88.4% hold, as it paid out nearly $5.05 million on top of the $5.7 million-plus in sports wagering handle.

In addition to low handle totals, Unibet did not fare well against the betting public outside Pennsylvania, where its all-time hold was a respectable 8%. Its win rate on gross revenue was 3.5% on $16.5 million handle in Arizona; 5.1% on $81.2 million worth of accepted bets in Indiana; and 3.1% on $15.8 million handle in Virginia.

Individual operator numbers are not available in New Jersey, where Unibet has combined with Hard Rock Bet and bet365 to generate $25.1 million in adjusted gross revenue this year.

The Kindred Group had submitted a Management Services Provider application to the Illinois Gaming Board in November 2020, having reached a market-access agreement with Penn National Gaming — now known as PENN Entertainment — to be the online sportsbook of Argosy Casino in Alton in September of that year. However, the state agency did not consider Unibet’s application until the IGB’s most recent meeting in late October, when it tabled the application with no reason given.

Kindred is the latest small- to mid-sized operator to depart from the U.S. market, one that has increasingly been dominated by the industry’s power players.

Over the last 18 months, Maxim Bet, Fubo Sportsbook, and FOX Bet are among the prominent names that have shuttered operations. While PointsBet still operates in the U.S., Fanatics purchased the company’s U.S. assets earlier this year.

The closure of Unibet in the U.S. raises additional questions about whether smaller operators can survive.

Over the next several months, Kindred said it will work with its partners within the North American region to ensure a “controlled closure of operations.” Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, Unibet marked its entry into the New Jersey market by signing a partnership with the NHL’s New Jersey Devils. Much like New Jersey, Ontario has a deep market with more than a dozen sportsbook operators.

".. will immediately start an exit process… with the expectations to have fully exited operations by the end of Q2 2024…"

Kindred Group announces North America exit and actions to accelerate profitable growthhttps://t.co/nGIoGttQeN

— Alfonso Straffon (@astraffon) November 29, 2023

During the third quarter of 2023, Kindred generated gross winnings revenue of £6.4 million ($7.8 million) in North America, a decrease of 11% on a constant currency basis from the year-ago period. Marketing spend for the quarter decreased 19% in local currency compared to the third quarter of 2022. In shuttering its North America business, Kindred acknowledged that profitability would be unattainable within a reasonable time frame.

“I am confident that this will create a leaner organization, enhance the Group’s scalability, and improve focus on key growth initiatives,” Andén added.

The move will enable Unibet to focus on core markets, including France, the U.K., and several countries in Scandinavia, Kindred added. In February, Unibet signed a deal with the NHL to become an official betting partner in Sweden.