What Happened To 22Bet? Why Did They Pull Out Of The UK?
22Bet were established in 2018 and were run as a white label of Tonybet, an established Lithuanian betting company now based in Malta. Tonybet was established in 2009 and have built their own highly regarded betting platform. 22Bet were the only other brand to operate under the tonybet license, so while being a white label they were still quite unique compared to others allowing them then to gain an active following.
The exit of 22Bet from the UK has little to do with the brand performance but rather more a strategic decision by Tonybet to focus on their principal brand in a very competitive market. It also been suggested, however, that the company are in the process of launching a new brand for the UK.
22Bet ceased accepting registrations on the 1st September 2020 terminating all operations by the 13th October 2020. Customers have been emailed to tell them they must access their account through Tonybet after this date, if you already have a tonybet account you can choose to keep either this account or the migrated 22Bet account. Any money can be withdrawn, if this amount is under threshold you can make a deposit to get it above this and withdraw. If you do not do this they will keep the money.
How Can They Move Customers To Tonybet?
The main reason is because it is under the same licence. Tonybet were already responsible for customers and their money when they had a 22Bet account, by being under the same licences existing users do not need to be re-verified.
Customers will notice little difference apart form the logo and the old 22Bet site ran on the exact same platform with the same features, odds, banking and promotions. That is the nature of a white label, it is effectively a cloned platform.
Some people may miss 22Bet but in actuality you would be better off with a Tonybet account if you enjoyed betting or playing games with them as Tonybet is the premiere site for the company.
Will 22Bet Come Back?
The site and brand still operate outside of the UK and so the entity is still alive and can be added back to the Tonybet UK license at any time. It could indeed be sold to another licence holder and relaunched here in the future – although would look nothing like the original.
My gut instinct says it will not be back anytime soon. The relatively higher taxes and tighter regulation in the UK is currently causing a lot of companies to pull brands out of the UK, especially white labels. The new gambling act due next year is also likely to provide more regulation on aspects such as stake and deposit limits that will make the UK more challenging for many companies, especially those based abroad.
There are also murmurings right now that white labels may be banned or heavily restricted under new proposed laws. Tie Brexit into this and you can see why companies are weary of the British gambling landscape right now. It will likely be a while until the dust settles to see whether brands, like 22Bet, will return to the UK.
