888 to Become Evoke
Long established online gambling firm 888 Holdings has announced it will be rebranding from 888.com to Evoke.
The company, which is headquartered out of Gibraltar, owns William Hill and Mr. Green in addition to the popular 888 brand.
The business was founded in May 1997 by Israeli entrepreneurs Avi and Aaron Shaked and Shay and Ron Ben-Yitzhak as Casino-On-Net. It had long operated exclusively offering online casino games. The name change came as a result of the number 8 often being associated with great fortune, wealth and spiritual enlightenment.
The company began trading on the London Stock Exchange in 2005 and its stock price has been hammered over the past year.
Earlier this month, 888 Holdings signaled plans to exit the US market after terminating its deal with SI.com.
As part of the termination agreement with SI, 888 has agreed to pay SI $25 million immediately and a further $25 million between 2027 and 2029.
In Michigan, SI's February revenue numbers came in at $3,390,231 compared to $501,280,512 for the market leader FanDuel.
“Since commencing my role as CEO I have been focused on ensuring the Group is set up to deliver strong value creation in the coming years," Per Widerström, CEO of 888, said. " In the US, the intensity of competition and requirement for scale means huge investment is required to reach profitability.
"Our partnership with Authentic has consistently driven strong demand for the SI brand across both consumer experiences and product offerings. A series of record-breaking months for SI Casino has underscored the strength of the SI brand. However, despite these successes, we have concluded that achieving sufficient scale in the US market to generate positive returns within an accelerated timeframe is unlikely.
"The strategic review of our US B2C operations will continue at pace, and I look forward to updating shareholders on our plans for the wider Group in late March.”
As for the change of name, the company says, it would “better reflect the strength of the group’s multi-brand operating model and its vision and mission to make life more interesting by delighting players with world-class betting and gaming experiences,” said 888.
- Aaron Goldstein, Gambling911.com
