Superbet Enters Greece: Inside Europe’s Fastest-Growing iGaming Market

Greece is emerging as one of the hottest iGaming markets in Europe, with a phenomenal 50% market rise in the second half of 2025. Superbet recently became the latest international operator to obtain a licence with the Hellenic Gaming Commission, joining ranks with bet365, Betsson, SportingBet and Bwin. Greece only ended its iGaming monopoly in 2021, after a 10-year hybrid system that started in 2011. Right now, the Southern European country represents strong opportunities for gambling operators, with high value and responsive customers.

Though it is not as straightforward as simply setting up shop in Greece, Malta or Cyprus and applying for a licence. Superbet, the Romanian gambling operator, acquired Exoplay’s online gaming licence, taking a shortcut to enter the Greek market. Recently, it has expanded on that and formally obtained a betting licence.

Superbet’s Journey Into Greece

Superbet has extended its portfolio with the Greek market, adding to Romania (where it is based), Poland, Serbia, Brazil and Malta. Apart from Brazil, the operator focuses on European Tier 2 markets, where there is extreme growth potential. It recently rebranded its corporate identity to Super Technologies, or Super, positioning itself as a B2B betting technology provider and outright gambling operator, diversifying its output. This is an emerging trend among bookmakers and operators, not just providing turnkey and white-label solutions for up-and-coming operators. Other brands have gone further by creating their own game studios to develop more unique products and revenue streams.

The Greek market is on the up and up, and while it does have long-established bookmakers like Stoiximan, the market has been described as having a high value player base. Meaning, many bettors sign up at multiple sportsbooks or iGaming sites, thus driving up the competition. Superbet acquired the Type 2 iGaming licence through Exoplay, and now, since the end of March, it has secured the Type 1 licence to supply betting products too.

And Superbet has already shown initiative here, taking a leaf from (the massively popular in Greece) Stoiximan’s book, and secured sports gambling sponsorships with top Greek football teams Panathinaikos and PAOK.

Greek Licence Types and Issuing Procedures

Unlike in Curacao and Malta, you don’t get one licence that covers multiple verticals in Greece. Operators who want to supply both casino games and sports betting have to obtain 2 separate licences, which can be done either fully independently from scratch, or as Superbet did it by acquiring a licence from an existing company.

Type 1 Licence

• Online sports betting
• €3 million licence fee
• Covers sports betting, both live and pregame, and virtual sports

Type 2 Licence

• Online casino gaming
• €2 million licence fee
• Covers slots, RNG games, table games, and live dealer games

The Hellenic Gaming Commission issues the licences, and the requirements for the licences are as follows:

• The company must have a Greek legal entity or be incorporated in an EU/EEA country
• Entry costs must be paid, alongside €10,000 in application fees and a €500,000 financial guarantee deposit
• Licences last for 7 years and are renewable
• Due diligence (RNG certifications, RG framework, business plan and AML/KYC policies) must be observed

Following security checks, a full system audit and a regulatory review, approved operators are given licences. It generally takes around 2 months after an application is made, and the gambling tax in Greece is 35% GGR. Overall, the process is quite fast, but companies can skip the full application submission.

The fresh licence fee (€2-3 million) doesn’t need to be paid, but this is generally included in the acquisition fee. The handover is designed to be as seamless as possible, with operators not needing to make complete business plans, AML, RNG certification and system architecture plans from scratch, though there are still the audit checks and regulatory approval to clear.

Monopoly Transition 2011-2021

Greece had a longstanding gambling monopoly run by OPAP, which had exclusive rights on sports betting, lottery products and most retail gambling. In 2004, the Hellenic Gaming Commission was established to take over as the administrative authority, and then in 2011 it introduced a temporary licensing regime. This effectively created a hybrid system, where OPAP still held the advantage over any newcomers, but Greece had opened its doors to private entities to enter the market.

A year later, Stoiximan was launched. The local Greek sportsbook and online casino operator was run by Kaizen Gaming, and quickly rose to become the leading sports betting operator in the country. A local company, it tailored promotions for Greeks, made sponsorships with local sports teams, and gradually caught the attention of the longstanding main gambling operator in Greece.

Stoiximan ran independently until 2018, when OPAP acquired a 36.75% stake in the company. It expanded to majority control between 2020 and 2021, and finally fully acquired the successful Greek sportsbook in 2025. In the meantime, Law 4002/2011, which proposed to end the monopoly, was finally implemented in 2021 with a completely new framework. The one Greece has today. Private operators could apply for full and permanent licences, and the number of operators in Greece jumped from around 15 during the 2010s up to 20-25.

Biggest Operators in Greece

Now, Stoiximan is one of the most famous and popular sportsbooks in Greece. It’s a strong foundation, with founders Kaizen Gaming (who also own Betano), and the OPAP gives it a massive advantage over other operators. But they have competitors in the international powerhouses like bet365, Betsson, Novibet, and various Flutter brands (Sportingbet and Bwin). The result is simply a mix between locally run operators and international sportsbooks and casino games providers.

What that means now for Superbet, and any operators sizing up a move into Greece, means they have to bring new, exciting and engaging offerings to the table. The Greek market is pretty young, though it is highly tech savvy and over the decade of Stoiximan’s dominance, they are accustomed to tailored bonuses. There is a strong culture of sports to be recognized here, especially basketball and football. Adjusting to the gaming and betting preferences of the region is very much a trial-and-error process, but the flexibility afforded by the gambling regulator opens up the space for a lot of innovation.

There are no strict regulations on VIP programs, promotional offers, types of gambling or betting products offered. So Greece represents a really exciting new territory for operators, especially with the increasing activity. Superbet will most likely hit the ground running, given its reputation for supplying odds boosts, free games and other perks to bolster the experience.

Greek Gambling Boom

The Greek iGaming market is valued at roughly €2.2 – €2.9 billion, and in 2025 H2, there was a 50% increase in market demand and activity across the previous half year, showing that this is not a market that is stabilizing. It is very much a growing market, with sharp acceleration in the online channels (legal ones), and it puts Greece firmly among the expanding Tier 2 markets. That includes the likes of Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden and Poland. Greece is still far off what is considered Tier 1 territory, where the likes of the UK, Italy, France and Spain lie, but given the speed of this upward trajectory, they could start competing with the top markets.

The country has a population of around 10 million, which is relatively small, but the gambling patterns make Greece appealing for operators. There is better value among the customers, with bettors and gamers open to using multiple operators. There is also a more notable sportsbook and casino crossover. You don’t get as much separation between the two niches as in some other EU countries.

While the gambling tax is high in Greece, it’s reglation is pretty stable and predictable from an operator’s viewpoint. The market doesn’t have countless operators; there are currently a good 24-26 live right now. But Greece is not really looking to oversaturate its market either. Superbet’s entry shows how the authority is trying to keep licences in short supply, and therefore more valuable. It also protects the current operator’s profit margins. This protects smaller companies, unlike the iGaming reforms in Italy, or the crippling gambling tax hikes in the UK, both of which favour larger brands. It also makes sure that Greece is not going to open the floodgates to flocks of gambling firms.

Where It Could Lead

The key drivers here are the fact that Greeks play across multiple verticals, are open to joining multiple iGaming platforms, and are transitioning from landbased gambling to online venues. And that traffic is not getting lost to the black market either, such is the quality of the regulated iGaming market. Greece doesn’t really have a massive landbased casino sector, with 7 registered commercial casinos, including those in Rhodes, Corfu, Thessaloniki, and one North of Athens. Also, Hard Rock International is currently developing a casino in Athens. It is going to be a major integrated resort, scheduled to open in 2027.

But the figures from last year point towards a big surge in online sports betting and casino gaming. Merger and acquisition led strategies to enter the market could only see the options for players get more refined and increase the overall quality without overwhelming customers with affiliates and skin sites. Smaller brands are protected in this way, and they are also forced to create more unique offerings to compete with the more established brands like Stoiximan or the international powerhouses like bet365, BWin, and now Superbet.

A culture that enjoys its basketball, football, live betting, and casino gaming, Greece is a market that may be impossible for operators to ignore in the near future. It has strong regulation that protect the industry, but also brace it for any upsurge, and thus makes it also easier to win customers away from the black market, which is gradually reducing.