Cherry to launch new dedicated Polish brand

Cherry has backed Poland’s regulated market to succeed after becoming the latest international company to gain one of the country’s sports betting licences.

Cherry, the Stockholm-listed owner of the ComeOn betting company, told iGamingBusiness.com that it plans to launch a completely new brand dedicated to the Polish market, and confirmed it plans to begin the process of bidding for a Swedish gambling licence from next month.

Cherry becomes the ninth licensed operator in the Polish market, and the second company to receive a licence under the new gambling regulations which came into force last April. 

Its successful application in Poland comes just as a court ruled against four overseas companies that challenged the legality of the country’s gambling blacklist, which now contains more than 2,000 domain names. The Regional Administrative Court in Warsaw found that the Ministry of Finance – which operates the licensing scheme – had the right to block the ISPs of firms offering gambling services without the necessary permits.

Speaking about its entry into Poland, a Cherry spokesperson told iGamingBusiness.com: “Cherry has vast experience operating in regulated markets and in markets were regulations are prepared. For us, the Polish market is of special interest as Cherry, as we worked long time with the goal to be one of the companies with a licence in this important market.

“Poland is a young market with big potential. Within first 12 months since introduction of the new gambling bill turnover of legal bookmakers more than doubled. This trend will most likely continue as pre-gambling bill market share of legal companies was around 10% and with new regulation in place there is a steady influx of casual players switching from unlicensed to licensed providers.”

Discussing its operational plans in Poland, Cherry said “local feeling and presence is key”.

“Although being an international conglomerate, we aim to present our customers with very local approach,” the spokesperson explained.

“Our advertising, offers and overall brand image will be influenced by local market trends.”

The spokesperson added that experiencing the licence application process in Poland will be “valuable” for the company ahead of Sweden opening its market. He said: “We are preparing for the announced regulation in Sweden and expect to submit our applications to the Swedish Gambling Authority in August.”