welcome everyone to gambling sided interview with bets and group CEO yes was fencing and as you'll see we're both wearing a little blue shirt because it's a very historic time in our club's history yes well first of all congratulations thank you very much congratulations to you too fantastic fantastic feeling a very very long wait but right now it just feels that feels amazing amazing absolutely we were we were just talking about kind of it it's obviously a little bit different we can't celebrate the way we normally would but it's still the you know that the most wonderful feeling yeah we take it I mean of course it's it's a shame you would have loved to be in the stadium out on the streets and and and all that but nevertheless we we have learned to adapt to the time we're living in and then yes the return the return of sport and then finally to win the league of the of the 30s s it's it's two great feelings right so we're not gonna let the situation overall take take away from that you know in times in times like this people need joy more than than ever and and and for sure last night it was a lot of joy given to to Liverpool supporters around the world mm-hmm absolutely I think you hit the nail on the head in terms of its it's a it's a positive time it's it's it's a joyous time and obviously fans of rival clubs then the conch celebrate quite as much as us and they might hear a lot from us and in the next few weeks but but like you say it's a it's a great positive that football is back and the Premier League is back and obviously we're here to talk more about what we could talk about Liverpool all day but we're you know we have talked about that the industry and sports betting as well so apart from Liverpool winning the league in general you know what is that the return of the Premier League meant for for Benson and it has been it has been good I think the return of football overall starting with with Bundesliga was so welcomed and it's also you know people are creating entertainment and in particularly in times when there have been a limitation to everything else in life movement going out and so forth then then the return of sport gives gives something extra to it and we have seen a lot of interest of course on this so very happy that things started to return over overall not just in sports but in society in general it follows the same and the same trend in in in at least a lot of countries not all countries but it's nevertheless good good to see the return mm-hmm obviously with with the absence of major sport hunters looked alternatives and and some alternatives were sports like table tennis and also virtual sports and eSports and and you've talked about kind of popularity of these recently I was wondering with the with the return of sport and major sport in premier league will these sports actually continue to see some action in the in the coming months and listen it's a bit speculative I would say from myself here now I don't think table tennis will remain the top sport I think that was more a reflection of of the time on the other hand eSports has been growing for a long period of time and that got an extra kick yeah for but now dosa so that trend is very likely to continue I would say but food onliest nevertheless football in the world of you know betting and ending the sport well overall so so that that will retain its position for for a very long period of time I believe you know sure makes a lot of sense um but but as you mentioned eSports got kind of an unprecedented kick do you think actually as a result this is pandemic which all obviously the pandemic itself is you know it's it's not not a good situation but eSport has benefited from kind of a side effect of more players to staying at home and do you think he sports can actually retain a large percentage of this of his new audience yes yes I believe so because there was an underlay underlying very strong growth in that segment and that also represents a new a new target group if you like for a lot of companies so so I can say that keep going becoming becoming very big and I think overall we say some some major trends happening now in the world not just in the world of betting but overall this is a push forward for digitalization in in the society in general in the online gaming world which we are in that that will have a positive effect overall I think and I think that also shows the sustainability of our industry it becomes clearer and clearer because sustainable industry to prove themselves over and over again and in particular in in tougher times and that is what I I think the online gaming world has been doing now of course there are many companies that are negatively affected in particularly companies from on the offline side that has been closed down with a big exposure to to offline a very big exposure to the sports side of things but all in all online gaming will come out very strong from this this time mm-hmm yeah obviously we we spoke I slung Dhin this year and this was about a month before kind of that the pandemic really took its toll in terms of closures and work from home and things like this and we spoke about there the euros being the the biggest the biggest betting event ever obviously that's been that's been delayed by a you know a year or so but with with with the recovery and the way things are going hopefully before next summer which has been delayed so do you think we can just revise those expectations and it will still be the biggest betting tournament but just a year later I I think so III think so and I mean all in all you know interest for for sports and those type of event it's not gonna be be less because of what happened rotted out away around you you really realize how much you miss that and and and of course you you think about many things in life and what is important in so forth and I'm not saying that that's point and perhaps it's the most important in life but it is an essential part of society and I think going forward you will see that interest coming back times more even so so I look forward to to next summer instead and hopefully society in general is is having coming back in a in a strong stronger way as well by them mm-hmm yeah I think I think a phrase I've heard recently describes what you're saying is footballers is the most important of the least important things I think that's a good face i I think I can agree to that yeah I'm on the subject of sports book and sports betting yeah benson's recently acquired a couple brands from from GI G from gaming innovation group um how's the integration of those brands developing for the company it's it's going well we took over that business in in mid-april and we have integrated it piece piece by piece going forward we will also integrate our sports book into their platform so hopefully we will see some solid uplift when that when that this coming coming to us so it's a few new exciting brands that we have added to our total portfolio so we think we can can grow them strongly going forward mm-hmm yeah sure I mean by the return of sports and hopefully as you say for the industry and for society as a whole you know we we can move forward and return to the kind of growth we're seeing but before the pandemic but a key part of our industry is obviously as we mentioned for example ice earlier you know the trade shows and meeting to discuss you know sports betting casino all the latest trends in the industry you know what are your thoughts on kind of trade shows coming back at the moment because we we may see some in the next couple of months but you know obviously no one's sure of when and what kinds of measures they'll be in place you know as we do all meet up III think it's still too early to say and if it's very soon then there will be less people doing for sure I think we'll take some time until those things return in in full force eventually it will return but again you know we are in a digital industry and we can do a lot of things digitally as well it will never replace the human contact in in in full of laws but I think this year for this shows this year they will see significantly less attendance if even they through and by next year it's likely than to start to pick up back again mm-hmm well you know hopefully that the calendar at some point whenever that is will return to its to its full you know for strength and prosperity but in terms of a or injuries that that's all the plan questions I had so thanks very much for your time of yes of it but also just to say one more time you'll never walk alone exactly you'll never walk alone and and this is this is a good day for loss Liverpool supporters after they'd be well thanks for your time yes / - thanks a lot