In 1949, the general manager of the Turkish government's Physical Education Department, Mr. Vildan Asit Savasir, introduced to the country the idea of starting a sport toto. He gathered all the necessary information from the Swedish sport toto and together with the head of the Turkish Football Federation, Mr. Ulvi Yenal, he established the Turkish Sport Toto Federation.
Savasir's successors were not very enthusiastic about operating a sports toto because they thought it was "collective gambling." The opponents of the sports toto used the argument: "If it is played in all civilized countries, why don't they have a sport toto in France?"
It took 10 years, but Bill Number 7258 on "Collective Betting in Football Competitions" was accepted on April 29, 1959 by the Turkish Parliament. And finally the "Spor Toto" was established under the name "Turkey's Soccer Lottery Organization."
Among Turkey's largest industrial and commercial conglomerates with numerous investments in top-notch companies, Libero, Intralot SA (Greece) and Çukurova Holding, started offering games of chance over alternative sales channels in August 2004.
Libero began offering sports betting games for Spor Toto and as of May 22, 2006 betting on TJK Horse Races. The company can provide gaming through the Internet, GSM (SMS, WAP, JAVA/SMS applications), call centers, kiosks and interactive TV via its integrated system.
Making the most of the synergy created by Çukurova's Turkcell mobile phone network, Libero has become the first integrated system that supports gaming via alternative channels in Europe. It aims to provide services that are entertaining, convenient, innovative and reliable all the time, in any place and through any device possible, adhering always to its social responsibilities and generating sustainable returns. In its effort to efficiently accomplish this mission, Libero has begun to apply and comply with end of the SOX internal control procedures.
As of May 2006, Bilyoner.com, the betting Web site for Spor Toto and TJK horse race betting, had over 300,000 subscribers. The technical infrastructure has been monitored to host increasing subscriber demand especially in peak hours due to the nature of the games.
Initial protocols have been started with related regulators to deliver new games.
The online payment facility with major Turkish banks is a unique integration by Libero. The system not only provides swift and safe money transfers, but also helps build the confidence and trustworthiness for Libero's business. Additionally, the company adopted new alternative payment systems, such as Turkcell Mobile Payment and Garanti Mobile Bank.
Libero was established in September 2003 to provide an integrated electronic gaming platform for end users for all games of chance owned by legal and regulated enterprises in Turkey. These games include fixed-odds betting, pari-mutuel betting and lottery games.
Inteltek was established on April 6, 2001 to explore business opportunities in the gaming sector in Turkey. Inteltek presently has two shareholders: Turktell, with a 55 percent share, and the Greek gaming company, Intralot, with a 45 percent interest. Intralot held 25 percent of the shares until the beginning of December 2005, when it acquired the 20 percent held by Teknoloji Holding.
Inteltek was granted a license in July 2002 by Genclik ve Spor Genel Müdürlü (Board of Youth and Sports) to provide and operate a central betting system and to establish stationary agents and an electronic betting platform for placing bets on sporting events. A second license was granted in October 2003, allowing Inteltek to provide fixed-odds betting games.
As a fully licensed company, Inteltek operates and manages all marketing, sales, corporate communications and risk management activities on behalf of the Spor Toto Organization. It also undertakes responsibility for its growing dealership network, carries out all planning, application and development of its Central Betting System in Ankara.
Inteltek began operations in August 2003 with 1,000 Spor Toto dealers in 81 cities across the nation. The number of dealers has risen to 3,766--an increase of 25 percent compared to 2004. There are three types of Spor Toto dealers: corner shops, kiosks and exclusive dealers. The number of exclusive shops, where the only focus is on Spor Toto games, has reached 800.
Inteltek plans to increase this number to 1,000 within a short period. All terminals at the dealers are linked to the Central Betting System in Ankara via Turkcell's GPRS network backed up with an HSCSD (high speed circuit switched data) connection.
Inteltek launched the new fixed-odds betting system, "Iddaa," in April 2004 with two games: "Final Result" and "Halftime/Fulltime." A third game, "Correct Score," was introduced in February 2005. The game can be played by anyone over 18 years old at Spor Toto dealers, via Internet (bilyoner.com.tr) and mobile telephones. The winnings are conveniently collected daily from Spor Toto dealers or authorized banks throughout Turkey.
A risk management system gathers and monitors real-time information on the coupons played at any dealer throughout Turkey. The system has enabled the company to point out risky bets and thus take necessary measures in a very short period of time. Inteltek has become a member of the information-sharing platform established among legal sports betting companies affiliated with the European Lottery Association. Utilizing this platform, a cooperative effort between UEFA and FIFA, any pre-set, manipulated games are revealed. Inteltek has also signed a similar agreement with the Turkish Football Federation, aiming to protect ethical values in football.
Aided by sharp growth in 2005, the sales performance of Iddaa resulted in an impressive increase to reach US$986 million, up from US$ 167 million; Spor Toto's market share to expand from 9 percent to 36 percent in 2005. Market research in the fourth quarter of 2005 confirmed national brand awareness of Iddaa, indicating 99 percent throughout the target group (males interested in football from ages 18 to 45 in Turkey). An average of 4.4 million coupons a week are played by an average of 2.2 million players.
Iddaa's presence has also vastly boosted the gaming market in Turkey. The total gaming turnover in Turkey amounted to US$2.7 billion as of December 2005, reflecting a current market expansion of 38 percent.