From leading one of Eurasia’s biggest betting operators to building premium sports-media ecosystems, Lasha Machavariani has spent the last decade turning “impossible” opportunities into market-defining successes.

In this exclusive interview, he shares how SMH Global brought Setanta Sports and La Gazzetta dello Sport to the region, blended business with passion through charity games and grassroots initiatives, and is now shaping the future of iGaming, sports media, and advisory services across Eurasia.

Lasha, you’ve had an incredible journey – from running one of the biggest betting operators in the region to building entire sports-media ecosystems. When people ask you what you actually do, how do you answer in one sentence?

Well, you know, I like to say I’m that guy who spots the impossible opportunities in our corner of the world – whether it’s turning pirate streams into real paying customers for top sports channels, or helping iGaming organisations and Sports Legends build something lasting after the pitch – and then I roll up my sleeves and make it work, step by step.

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Image: Lasha Machavariani

Let’s go back to 2016. You leave a very comfortable CEO position at the .com network and everyone thinks you’re going to take a break. Instead you start SMH Global and almost immediately become the regional ambassador for SBC, later growing into an exclusive regional business partner, run SBC Eurasia and co-organise SBC Summit first in Kiev and later in Tbilisi. When almost nobody knew SBC in the region and the brand itself was just a baby back then, how did you know it was a bet to place?

Ah, 2016 – that was a wild time. I’d been deep in the trenches at Georgian, Kazakhstani and later international .com operations, learning how markets really tick here in Eurasia. But I saw the iGaming world was growing fast, yet no one was doing proper events or connecting people like in Europe. So I jumped in with Ras at SBC – they’re the gold standard, right? – and proposed to grow the brand knowledge in CIS and Eurasia almost from scratch. A few years later, based on the results, SMH Global and SBC became business partners in Eurasia. Now Tbilisi’s summit pulls in over 2,000 folks from 44 countries, with legends like Nesta headlining. It wasn’t luck; it was just knowing our region needed that professional spark to shine globally.

Same year, 2016, you basically invent the premium sports content market in Eurasia. Setanta Sports had great rights – EPL, Champions League, NBA, UFC – but zero localised presence here and piracy was killing everything. How on earth did you convince the Irish founders to even try Georgia?

(laughs) Convincing the Irish? That took some Georgian charm and a lot of data. It all started even earlier, when I as a CMO of Adjarabet, saw that Setanta Sports was covering the whole region through Satellite signal and a single Ru language stream, had the secured rights for streaming and a little bit of audience. I reached out to them and asked to place an Adjarabet advertisement at the El Clasico ga me for a symbolic 100 USD price, to start the partnership and promised to grow their business tremendously.  As you mentioned piracy was everywhere – people viewing for free or cable TV providers broadcasting the sports TV channels illegally, no one believing they’d pay a premium for the quality. But my vision was to show them: localise it, add Georgian voices, access the main Pay TV operators as a separate package, and boom – fans will come. We tested with Setanta Georgia, proved it in months, then Ukraine, Kazakhstan. COVID hit, and business became hard as the sports stopped, sponsorship revenues stopped, Pay TV subscriptions went down… I saw the perfect moment for an M&A deal, which we pitched to the Irish owners to exit and one of the greatest Georgian investors to take over the brand as he was just starting in the sports broadcasting locally in Georgia. I just knew that in right hands and with the right vision Setanta Sports would become a real giant, more contents, best commentating and taking up the digital future – OTT, social, the works would be the Key. As you probably know this M&A has gone successfully, and today Setanta Sports is a proud leader and unrivalled king of Eurasian sports broadcasting in 15 countries.

Today SMH Global is the exclusive integral partner of the Setanta Sports, driving big portion of revenues like never before. It’s proof: believe in the market, and it believes back.

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Fast-forward to 2023 – you start talking to La Gazzetta dello Sport, literally the bible of sports journalism since 1896. Year of negotiations and in January 2024 you launch the first international edition in history, in Georgian language. One year later it’s the leading sports news platform in the country. How did that feel?

 Feels like vindication, my friend – year back-and-forth with the Italian collueges, them saying “Georgia? For real?” But with the right track record, laser sharp vision and profound understanding of the region, we managed to persuade RCS Media to expand the brand with us.

We built a team that’s right in the heart of it all, chatting with athletes, agents, federations daily. No more rumours; just straight facts from the source. In a year, we’re top dog in sports news here. And expansion? Oh, it’s coming – the whole region will get that trusted voice soon. It’s not just news; it’s building trust in a space full of noise of digital sports news through an ecosystem of web, mobile app, social media and more. Romania is the main target for 2026.

You’re also very active on the pure sports side – Game4Ukraine with Shevchenko, legends matches in Central Asia, the charity game in Lisbon with SBC this year, helping athletes monetise their image rights and develop their careers. Is this business or passion?

For me, it’s both – they blend like good khachapuri and wine. Coming from betting, I get the value in a name like Chakvetadze’s; we help with brands, sponsorships, also connections to the right clubs or coaches enables us not to just be their revenue growth supporters but also career development partners, for example a top MMA fighter Bidzina Gavashelishvili is now on a camp with the UFC king Merab Dvalishvili, which was highly supported by SMH Global.

And remember Lisbon in September? That legends match with Kaka, Del Piero, even Usyk – raised over 600 grand for war-torn spots, broadcast all over Eurasia on Setanta. Passion fuels it, but the business side makes it sustainable. And seeing kids at our Kinkladze Foundation clinics learn from EPL pros? That’s the real win.

Speaking of kids – you co-founded a foundation with Manchester City legend Giorgi Kinkladze. What’s the mission there?

 Giorgi and I, we’re like brothers – both know talent alone doesn’t cut it here. No paths, no funding, you’re stuck. So the Kinkladze Foundation? We run grassroots tourneys, fly in top professionals from the EPL and other top leagues for clinics, even pay for bright students to study sports management in Europe. It’s about giving that next generation the tools we wished for. Simple as that.

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SMH Global started in iGaming and events, but now you’re aiming deep in Advisory – M&A, market entry, regulatory stuff for operators and sports brands. What’s the bigger play here? How do you see SMH evolving on the global stage?

You hit it right – advisory’s where the magic happens now. We’ve got the best advisory network in the world, the track record: advising the regional iGaming companies on scaling and going international, helping Setanta scale, landing La Gazzetta, even brokering those strategic intros that turn deals. But the vision? SMH Global becoming the leading global advisory in iGaming and sports – the go-to partner when you’re eyeing Eurasia or beyond. Think integrated solutions: from regulatory navigation to sponsorship gold, all results-driven. We’re already SBC’s worldwide arm, pulling in C-suites globally to Tbilisi. In five years, we’ll be advising the biggest players on how to crack emerging markets, just like we did for Setanta. It’s not dream; it’s the plan, built on what we’ve proven here.

Last question – you’ve basically created three or four completely new markets in less than 10 years. What’s next that “nobody believes is possible right now”?

 (grins) Always the same question, eh? Alright: turning sports legends into commercial powerhouses like in the big leagues, and yeah – that next wave in fan engagement, I believe that the Sports and iGaming will be blending even more, by creating a fully entertainment driven ecosystem, where betting is just the part and there is no more attention or eyeball competition between the two.

Lasha Machavariani, thank you – and good luck making the next “impossible” thing happen.

My pleasure, truly. Come by Tbilisi for the next summit – it’ll be even better, and as always