The implosion of Allwyn’s Novibet acquisition hasn’t dimmed the lottery giant’s appetite for proprietary sportsbook technology — it’s simply sent them back to the shopping list. Speaking on the company’s FY25 earnings call, CEO Robert Chvátal confirmed that the search for a homegrown sportsbook stack remains very much alive, and that alternative routes are already being scouted. The Novibet deal fell apart after Greece’s Hellenic Competition Commission raised objections serious enough to render proposed remedies commercially unworkable. So much for that plan.
Why Owning the Tech Stack Matters — And Why Allwyn Doesn’t Yet
CFO Kenneth Morton laid out the strategic logic with admirable clarity: Allwyn has effectively cracked the technology puzzle on the lottery side, but sports betting remains a conspicuous gap. According to Morton, proprietary tech is a genuine long-term differentiator — not just a vanity project — and the company currently relies on third-party solutions for its sportsbook operations across multiple markets. That’s a structural dependency that any serious operator would want to eliminate, particularly one positioning itself as a €16 billion combined entity post its pending OPAP merger.
The broader implication here is straightforward: Allwyn is a lottery business trying to become a full-spectrum gaming company, and you can’t credibly claim that crown while renting your most commercially competitive product from someone else. The Novibet deal was the shortcut. Now they need a different road.
Who’s Next on the M&A Target List?
Chvátal was diplomatically vague about specific targets — as you’d expect from anyone who just watched a high-profile deal get torpedoed by a competition regulator — but the direction of travel is clear. Allwyn is looking at acquisitions, partnerships, or some combination thereof to bring sportsbook infrastructure in-house. Given the regulatory headache they just endured in Greece, expect future deal structures to be architected with competition authorities front of mind from day one.
PrizePicks: The US Flank That’s Actually Working
While the sportsbook tech saga drags on, Allwyn’s January completion of its $1.6 billion majority stake acquisition in US daily fantasy operator PrizePicks offers a more encouraging subplot. Morton made a pointed observation about the competitive advantage PrizePicks holds in the burgeoning prediction markets space: it already has the customers. While rivals have stumbled into the market launching three separate apps — one each for DFS, online sportsbook, and predictions — PrizePicks integrated predictions directly into its existing DFS platform from day one.
The arithmetic is brutal: if you need three apps to serve one customer, you’re effectively paying acquisition costs three times over. PrizePicks doesn’t have that problem. For a sector where customer acquisition costs routinely make the economics look insane, that kind of structural efficiency isn’t just nice to have — it’s a genuine moat.
FY25 Numbers: Solid if Unspectacular
Allwyn’s full-year 2025 financials came in at €4.1 billion net revenue, up 4% year-on-year, with adjusted EBITDA also climbing 4% to approach €1.6 billion. Nothing that will set pulses racing, but steady compounding from a business that controls lottery concessions across multiple European markets is hardly a surprise. The more significant number on the horizon is that €16 billion combined valuation once the OPAP merger closes — expected before the end of March after receiving shareholder sign-off in February.
Chvátal called 2025 a “pivotal year.” He’s not wrong, though the pivot still has a few moving parts left to land. Chief among them: finding a sportsbook technology solution that regulators, shareholders, and the market can actually live with.
