Kambi Group has announced the appointment of Werner Becher, formerly of Sportradar, as its new chief executive (CEO).
Becher will take over as CEO at Kambi on 25 July, the day after the group publishes its Q2 results. He is replacing the long-serving Kristian Nylén, whose departure was confirmed in January, after leading the supplier since it was spun off from Kindred Group in 2010.
An experienced executive, Becher joins Kambi having most recently served as CEO for EMEA and LatAm at Sportradar. He spent over three years with the business before stepping down in December 2022.
During his time with Sportradar, Becher also had a spell as managing director of its US-facing betting arm.
Prior to this, Becher was CEO of Interwetten for seven years between November 2011 and December 2018. Earlier in his career, Becher founded two tech consultancies – Adesso Austria and Cob@Web – and worked for DXC Technology.
Becher leads Kambi into new, modular era
He joins Kambi with the business embarking on an overhaul of its product suite, moving away from a one-size-fits-all solution to a modular offering broken up into a number of divisions.
Alongside its core sports betting technology, it will offer front end solutions through Shape Games, acquired for €38.5m in 2022, alongside esports data and technology via Abios, which it bought in 2021. This is complemented by its new AI-powered trading arm Tzeract, which launched earlier this year.
The changes come as the nature of the deals available to sportsbook suppliers changes. Multiple operators have acquired or started building sportsbook solutions to take ownership of their technology stack.
This includes a number of Kambi clients, starting with DraftKings in 2022. By shifting to a more flexible approach, the supplier aims to significantly increase its potential client base, as well as continuing as a supplier to the largest brands in the industry.
Kambi chair: Becher “the right choice” for a new era
Chairman Anders Ström described Becher as “an exceptionally suitable successor to Kristian Nylén”.
“With extensive industry experience, strong entrepreneurial spirit, proven business acumen and exceptional drive, we are confident Werner is the right choice to lead Kambi into a new era,” Ström said.
Becher added he was honoured to become Kambi CEO, saying he had “the utmost respect and admiration” for the business.
“I join Kambi at an exciting time in its evolution. It continues to open up its service and widen its addressable market. I am excited to work closely with the board, our executive team and our talented employees across the world to deliver on the fantastic opportunities ahead of us.”
Kambi looks to improve on mixed Q1
Becher will be joining Kambi after it publishes its Q2 results. The group will be hoping for a better set of results than in Q1.
For the first quarter, revenue hit €43.2m (£36.7m/$46.5m), down 1.8% from the €44.0m reported by Kambi in Q1 last year.
Kambi said that this decline was in line with its expectations for the period. It also noted the impact of the migration of Penn’s online business in July 2023.
Looking to the full-year, Kambi said 2024 will be a “transitional” year for the business. Again, it highlighted the Penn online migration as a factor that will impact performance, as well as delayed regulation of the Brazilian market. On a more positive note, it flagged renewed contracts with Kindred and several other partners.
Based on this, Kambi estimates revenue for 2024 to be between €170.0m and €180.0m. The group adds that revenue from recent partner signings is likely to materialise towards the end of the year, in addition to organic growth from existing partners.
