Betano Owner's CEO Eyes Bristol City Stake
George Daskalakis, co-founder and chief executive of Kaizen Gaming, is reportedly in advanced talks to acquire a minority stake in EFL Championship club Bristol City.
Sky News, which broke the story on August 19, 2026, reports that Daskalakis is negotiating directly with Bristol City owner Steve Lansdown over the deal.
Kaizen Gaming operates the Betano online betting site, which was the front-of-shirt sponsor of Premier League club Aston Villa until last season and has recently been valued at around $10 billion, according to reports.
A Deal Years In The Making
Daskalakis is working alongside co-investor Sandford Loudon and the pair are understood to have been targeting an investment in Bristol City for a considerable period, with talks reportedly nearing agreement with Lansdown. The stake being discussed is described as a minority holding rather than an outright takeover.
Lansdown, who has run Bristol City for almost three decades and personally invested around £280 million in the club, has previously said in an interview that he has been actively seeking new investment, either alongside him or to eventually take over his position.
Neither Bristol City nor Kaizen Gaming has issued a formal statement confirming the reported talks, and the deal has not been finalised.
Gambling Money's Growing Reach In Football
A Daskalakis investment would be the latest instance of a betting operator's leadership taking a direct ownership stake in an English football club, extending gambling firms' involvement in the sport well beyond sponsorship deals.
Betano's prior front-of-shirt arrangement with Aston Villa already placed the brand among the most visible in the Premier League before that deal ended last season.
A confirmed Bristol City deal would mark one of the more direct examples yet of an operator's own executives, rather than the company itself, taking an equity position in a British football club.
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