Turkey is a country of strategic importance in the global gaming market. Thanks to its demographics and to the passion of the Turkish people for sports, the market is robust and presents great potential for sizeable growth.

In 2004 Inteltek, a joint venture of INTRALOT, one of the leading players in the global gaming market, operating in 57 jurisdictions in 5 continents and Turkcell, the first and largest GSM communications company of Turkey operating in 9 countries with a total of 71,5 million subscriptions, were granted the exclusive operation of fixed odds betting and para-mutual betting games on sports events in Turkey (including Sales & Marketing operations, Technological Infrastructure and Risk Management), by Spor Toto Directorate, the Turkish gaming authority operating under the Turkish Ministry of Youth and Sports, that holds the largest share of the country’s gaming market.

Inteltek’s leading Role in the Sports Betting Business in Turkey

Operating as of 2001, Inteltek has become prominent as one of the largest players in the sports betting sector in Turkey and the wider region. By establishing a brand that stands for quality and global standards, Inteltek is a unique success story in the Turkish economy during the last decade. Inteltek has been recognized as one of the 10 largest economic projects in Turkey, offering employment to tens of thousands of people through a network of 5,700 retailers and 6 e-networks that offer its branded sports betting game, iddaa®.
Launched by INTRALOT’s subsidiary in April 2004, iddaa® is one of the most successful sports betting brands in the world. With iddaa® Inteltek has made Spor Toto Directorate the leading player of the Turkish gaming market, as the game’s market share has increased from 1% to 56% in 11 years. Today Spor Toto’s turnover reaches nearly 3.5 billion dollars, from a 17 million dollars turnover in 2003.

Capitalizing on INTRALOT’s experience and worldwide betting operations know-how, Inteltek provides full turnkey products and services solutions, including the deployment and operation of the central betting system, connected online to the terminals located in each point of sales. Inteltek also manages game content and logistic operations, provides help desk and maintenance & support services to sales agents and delivers 24/7 call center service to players. What is more, INTRALOT’s subsidiary has successfully integrated the iddaa® brand in the scope of all corporate activity, including marketing, sponsorships, and corporate identity itself.

Since 2004 Inteltek has earned the loyalty of players by leveraging new global gaming trends in continual improvements in the full range of gaming products, by integrating risk management at all stages of game development and by diversifying product offerings to meet personalized player preferences.

iddaa®: Turkey’s One and Only Sports Betting Brand

In the launch of iddaa®, Inteltek’s marketing team implemented a communications campaign aiming at creating brand awareness among football fans aged between 18-45 years old who could embrace the brand and be enlisted as an iddaa® brand ambassador. These fans, iddaa® brand ambassadors, were critical to the initial stage of market penetration and also boosted the popularity of the game itself.

Later on, iddaa® was gradually re-positioned as a brand that changes the way ordinary people, who watch football matches but are not passionately engaged with football, view the sport. The main strategy was to create the perception among this audience of social viewers of football that “iddaa® is a brand that not only intensifies the excitement of the game, but also the very excitement of life.

By adding more sports to iddaa®‘s game portfolio besides football in 2009, the brand’s target audience expanded even more, as motorsports fans or basketball lovers gained access to what was by then a branded world, the world of iddaa®.

Today the INTRALOT family is proud to see Inteltek’s iddaa® brand has come of age. As such, the team’s communication strategy has again evolved and is now based on the concept that iddaa® is a brand which offers exciting gaming entertainment to sports fans with a plethora of interactive gaming features enabling players to live and share their personalized virtual gaming experiences.

After over a decade since it was first introduced to players in Turkey, iddaa® has reached a 99% brand awareness rate countrywide, becoming a very strong and popular brand, a “love brand” as it is labelled by the majority of sports fans. The brand’s adventure continues to unravel as 2015 research findings indicate that iddaa® players, currently estimated at 8.6 million, are increasing gradually.

In order to meet the diversified needs of such a large and growing player base, Inteltek has set as new priority the use of digital platforms, so that all relevant and time-centric data that players may require is readily available through the web, tablet, and mobile channels via the world’s leading content providers. Thus, players can easily access all pre- and post-match statistical data as well as match and coupon results, on Inteltek digital platforms. In addition, Inteltek is also developing new specialized digital technologies that enable players to obtain live information at the points of sales, such as iddaa® TV.

Iddaa®: Supporting Good Causes

iddaa® ‘s success is reflected not only on an impressive turnover growth but also on invaluable resources for various good causes. Substantial funds, nearly US$ 11 billion, have been allocated to the Turkish state in taxes and other public fees and earmarked for the advancement of Turkish sports, education and research, and other social goals, for the benefit of society. With these funds, over 2,000 sports facilities have been built and multiple sports events, as well as national and international tournaments, have been made possible.

A member of the INTRALOT Group, Inteltek shares in its values and believes in the importance of the giving back to the community by supporting social responsibility projects that reflect the expectations of social stakeholders. The company supports the Disabled Sports Support and Education Foundation, engaged in the social inclusion of persons with special needs by facilitating their access to education and participation in sports. Furthermore, iddaa® is the main sponsor of Rakipbul League, an amateur league that allows its community of 150,000 members to experience professional football on artificial pitches, with almost 20,000 events per year.

The leading provider of sports betting entertainment in Turkey, Inteltek, has partnered as of 2008 with the Turkish Football Federation and the Spor Toto Directorate for the protection of Turkish football, signing an agreement for the preservation of the integrity of sports and ethical values in football.