Gambling Insider Jan/Feb 2022

Jan/Feb 2022

CEO SPECIAL

Meet the leaders shaping the future of our industry

Amy Howe, CEO, FanDuel Sam Swanell, CEO, PointsBet David Newton, CEO, Paddy Power Retail Michael Dugher, CEO, Betting & Gaming Council

BIG QUESTION The importance of sports betting data ROUNDTABLE Softswiss, Pariplay and Relax on the rise of aggregation THE INSIDERS Lightning Box, Pragmatic Play, Dimoco and AstroPay

EDITOR’S LETTER COO, EDITOR IN CHIEF Julian Perry EDITOR Tim Poole Tim.Poole@gamblinginsider.com STAFF WRITER Peter Lynch Peter.Lynch@gamblinginsider.com JUNIOR STAFF WRITER Isabella Aslam Isabella.Aslam@gamblinginsider.com LEAD DESIGNER Brendan Morrell

F

Julian Perry, COO, Editor in Chief

Tim Poole, Editor

rom everyone at Gambling Insider, we'd like to wish gambling industry stakeholders the happiest and most prosperous of new years.

Our first gift to you in 2022 is this bumper edition of Gambling Insider, filled with 112 pages of comment, opinion and analysis. That means our usual assortment of data, including Facing Facts, In Numbers, Taking Stock and the latest exclusive stats from Global Betting and Gaming Consultants. That also means our usual Big Question and Roundtable features, focusing on sports betting data and the rise of aggregation.

As ever, we have some of the industry's most insightful Insiders, as well as columns from Lee Richardson, Dr Joerg Hofmann, Ranjana Adhikari and Exacta Solutions.

But our main course, without a doubt, is our annual CEO Special, in which we've interviewed the leaders who are shaping how our industry will progress and evolve in the coming years. Our list of past CEO Special interviewees reads like a who's who of renowned gambling CEOs: Jim Murren, Kenny Alexander, Matt Davey, Itai Pazner, Martin Carlesund, Henrik Tjärnström, Bill Miller, John Connelly, Gustaf Hagman, Pontus Lindwall, Therese Hillman and more.

And this year's interviewees add further industry pedigree to that already illustrious list. We start off with Amy Howe of FanDuel, which, by many measures, is the leading US sportsbook. Ambitious yet grounded, Howe tells us about growing up as an identical twin, years at McKinsey & Company and keeping FanDuel at the top of its game.

Across both the Atlantic Ocean and the online/bricks-and-mortar divide, Paddy Power Retail CEO David Newton is our second CEO. He tells us all about a career at Woolworths, Ladbrokes and Paddy Power, another of Flutter Entertainment's famous brands.

PointsBet CEO Sam Swanell brings us an international perspective, as he discusses how he turned an Australian start-up into one of the material players in the US market – so much so it is one of just nine New York licence holders following the launch of the state's mobile market. The Australian market itself proves fascinating to read about.

Completing our CEO Special is Michael Dugher, a man with serious political pedigree, having been a Labour MP in the UK for a number of years. Now leading the Betting & Gaming Council, his mission is to unite the UK gambling industry. And, in many ways, our hope is that we've united you all, our readers, to pick up the best magazine in the sector and glean all the invaluable insights our revered CEOs have to offer.

TP, Editor

FEATURED IN THIS ISSUE

DESIGNERS Olesya Adamska, Christian Quiling DESIGN ASSISTANTS Radostina Mihaylova, Svetlana Stoyanova MARKETING & EVENTS MANAGER Mariya Savova IT MANAGER Tom Powling COMMERCIAL DIRECTOR Deepak Malkani Deepak.Malkani@gamblinginsider.com Tel: +44 (0)20 7729 6279 SENIOR ACCOUNT MANAGERS Michael Juqula Michael.Juqula@gamblinginsider.com Tel: +44 (0)20 3487 0498 Martin Dilleigh Martin.Dilleigh@gamblinginsider.com Tel: +44 (0) 203 435 5628 SENIOR BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT MANAGER - U.S. Aaron Harvey Aaron.Harvey@playerspublishing.com Tel: +1 702 425 7818 ACCOUNT MANAGERS William Aderele William.Aderele@gamblinginsider.com Tel: +44 (0)20 7739 2062 Clive Waite Clive.Waite@gamblinginsider.com Tel: +44 (0)20 7729 0643 BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT MANAGER Michelle Pugh Michelle@GlobalGamingAwards.com Tel: +44 (0)20 7739 5768 SENIOR ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE Sam Ford Samuel.Ford@gamblinginsider.com Tel: +44 (0) 207 739 9918 CREDIT MANAGER Rachel Voit WITH THANKS TO: Fantini Research, Global Betting and Gaming Consultants, John Connelly, Amy Howe, David Newton, Sam Swanell, Michael Dugher, Ivo Doroteia, Jeevan Jeyaratnam, Dima Reiderman, Malte Hegeler, Enrico Bradamante, Andrey Starovoitov, Simon Hammon, Lee Richardson, Joerg Hofmann, Ranjana Adhikari, Sarthak Doshi, Chris Vella, The Game Day, Entain, Rohith Kori, David Little, Yossi Barzely, Bettina Sommer, Paddy Mann, Mikael Lijtenstein, Robert Linnehan Gambling Insider magazine ISSN 2043-9466 Produced and published

by Players Publishing Ltd

AMY HOWE CEO, FanDuel

MICHAEL DUGHER CEO, Betting & Gaming Council

All material is strictly copyrighted and all rights reserved.

Reproduction without permission is forbidden. Every care is taken in compiling the contents of Gambling Insider but we assume no responsibility for the effects arising therefrom. The views expressed are not necessarily those of the publisher.

CONTENTS 26

40

46

ISSUES

CEO SPECIAL

FEATURES

14 Facing facts Gambling Insider takes a close statistical look at various results from the third quarter of 2021

34 Sliding doors FanDuel CEO Amy Howe speaks to Tim Poole about having an identical twin sister, learning at McKinsey & Company, turning FanDuel into a $7-10bn brand and much more

62 Big question Executives from Sportingtech, Abelson Odds, BtoBet and EveryMatrix discuss the importance of sports betting data

16 In numbers A gaming snapshot by Fantini Research 22 The global outlook Global Betting & Gaming Consultants, the global gaming data expert, provides exclusive data to Gambling Insider 24 Taking stock We track operator and supplier stock prices across a six-month period

GI HUDDLE 26 Significant strides Interblock Global CEO John Connelly speaks to the GI Huddle

GGA AWARDS 30 Global Gaming Awards London The Shortlist for the Executive of the Year Award is out now. Who made the cut?

40 The cut and thrust of retail Paddy Power Retail CEO David Newton discusses his time at Woolworths, Ladbrokes and now Paddy Power, where he is steering the brand's betting shops through the Covid-19 pandemic 46 Getting to the point PointsBet Group CEO Sam Swanell speaks to Tim Poole about putting it all on the table after a distinguished career – to create a start-up that is now one of the "material players" in Australia and North America 54 Uniting the industry Now tasked with bringing the UK gambling sector together, Betting & Gaming Council CEO Michael Dugher discusses his many music bands, growing up during a time of political tension and a storied career with the Labour Party

68 Roundtable Softswiss, Pariplay and Relax Gaming on the prosperity of online casino aggregation 76 Market mania Regular Gambling Insider contributor Lee Richardson believes gambling company valuations will only go in one direction during 2022 78 Germany: The state of play Dr Joerg Hofmann, of Melchers Law, writes his first of many guest articles for Gambling Insider

78

82 Casual gaming Ranjana Adhikari and Sarthak Doshi explain why casual gaming means serious business in India 86 Gaining momentum Chris Vella, Co-Founder & MD of Exacta Solutions, discusses iGaming M&A 90 Are you En(ter)tain-ed?

We report from the inaugural Entain Sustain conference in London 94 Emerging patron trends Rohith Kori, a Vice President at Agilysys, assesses the tech tools casinos need today 96 Betting on Sports Europe We review the industry tradeshow

82

102

INSIDERS

PRODUCT REVIEWS

100 David Little Lightning Box Games 101 Yossi Barzely Pragmatic Play 102 Bettina Sommer Dimoco Carrier Billing 103 Ben Fried SRI 104 Mikael Lijtenstein AstroPay

106 What's new?

As the land-based industry finds its feet again, Gambling Insider takes a close look at some of the exciting products now available on the casino floor

FINAL WORD 112 The convenience of home Robert Linnehan, Editor at XLMedia, explores the impact of the recently launched New York mobile sports betting market

ISSUES

NUMBER CRUNCING

FACING FACTS Gambling Insider takes a close look at various results from the third quarter of 2021

Com

Macau Q3

Kambi Comparing Kambi Q3 2021 and Comparing Kambi Q3 2021 and Q3 2020 Q3 2020 Comparing Kambi Q3 andfinancial results (€ million) financial results (€2021 million)

Comparing Macau gross gaming revenue Macau gross gaming revenue for Q3 forComparing Q3 2021 and 2020 (MOP billion)

andfor 2020 Comparing Macau gross gaming 2021 revenue Q3 (MOP billion) 2021 and 2020 (MOP billion) 2020 2021 2020 2021 10

4

40 5.88

6 4.44 ($550m)

4 2

1.34 ($170m)

1.33 ($170m)

0 0

2.21 ($280m)

2.21 1.33 ($280m) ($170m)

1.34 ($170m)

30

28.1

20

40 28.1

30 20

14.7

10 10 0

September

August

Revenue

5.1

Operating profit Profit after tax

September

Source: Company reports

• Year-on-year increases of 530%, 234%, and 166% for July, August and September respectively

• Revenue increased by 48% year-on-year • Operating profit and profit after tax increased by 126% and 133% respectively

• July gross gaming revenue of MOP8.44bn ($1.05bn) is the second-highest tally of 2021 so far

Comparing Caesars Entertainment and MGM Resorts International Q3 2021 and 2020 revenue ($ Comparing Caesars Entertainment and MGM Resorts International Q3billion) 2021 and 2020 Comparing Q3 2021 revenue for three of Sweden’s Swedish Operators Swedish Operators revenue ($ billion) largest operators (SEK billion) Comparing Q3 2021 revenue for three of Sweden’s Comparing Q3 2021 year-on-year revenue changes for largest operators (SEK billion) three Sweden’s largest operators (SEK billion) Q3of2021 year-on-year revenue changes for 2021 Comparing Comparing Q3 2021 revenue for three2020 of Comparing Q3 2021 year-on-year three of Sweden’s largest operators (SEK billion) 2020 2021 Sweden’s largest operators (SEK billion) revenue changes for three of Sweden’s

2

2

($190m) 1.12

1 0

5.1

ofit after tax fter tax

1.12

MGM Resorts International 0

10

Betsson Kindred Group Svenska Spel Betsson Kindred Group Svenska Spel

7

Wynn Macau 51.4

7

6

Wynn Macau

130.7

4

3

4

3

2 2

Las Vegas Operations Las Vegas Operations 2.7

0

2.7

Betsson Kindred Group Svenska Spel Encore Boston Harbour Betsson Kindred Encore Group Boston Svenska Spel Harbour

116.7

Source: Company reports

• Kindred Group leads the way with highest Q3 2021 revenue • State-owned Svenska Spel generated SEK 1.97bn ($220m), operating only in the 0 1 Swedish market

1

• Kindred Group once again leads the way with highest increase

2

Revenue ($ billion)

Revenue ($ billion) 14

2.69 2.69

6

0

15.7

Wynn Palace

15.7

Wynn Palace

8

8

Source: Company reports

0

11

10

1.97 1.97 ($220m) ($220m)

1.73 1.73 ($190m)

11

12 1.44

1.44

1

sorts 11.9International

12

Year-on-year % increase

ars Entertainment

Revenue (SEK Billion)

Revenue (SEK Billion)

3 3 Caesars Entertainment

Wy Wynn Resorts Q3 202

largest operators

3.48 3.48 ($390m) ($390m)

Year-on-year % increase

4 4

11.9

Profit after tax

Source: Macau Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau

d on)

0

5.1

Revenue Operating profit

2

11.9

11.9 6.5

6.5

3

1

14.7

0 July August

July

($730m)

5.88 ($730m) 4.44 ($550m)

2021

41.6 41.6

4

Revenue (SEK Billion)

6

2

8

Revenue (MOP billion)

Revenue (MOP billion)

8

8.44 ($1.05bn)

Total (€ million)

8.44 ($1.05bn)

50

Total (€ million)

10

Q3 2020 financial results (€ million) 2020 2020 2021 50

GAMBLINGINSIDER.COM

Wynn Resorts Q3 2021 and Q3 2020 revenue per property ($ million)

changes 3 2• All three companies boasted positive year-on-year 3

0

0 100

Flutter Entertainment

3.48 ($390m)

1.34 1.34 2($170m) ($170m)

2 0

2.21 ($280m) 2.21 ($280m)

1.33 ($170m) 1.33 ($170m)

3

0

Sports

20

17

17

17

Y 12

12 10

1.73 ($190m)

2020

0

Sports

2

6

6

5

4

Gaming Gaming

41.44

Total

1

0

0

Wynn Palace

3 2.69

Wynn Macau

0

Comparing Caesars Entertainment and revenue ($MGM billion)Resorts International Q3 2021 and 2020 revenue ($ billion)

Betsson

Kindred Group

Svenska Spel

1.12

Las Vegas Operations

MGM Resorts International

2020 2020

Wynn Resorts Q3 2021 and Q3 20 2.7 Wynn Resorts Q3 2021 and Q

2021 2021

2020 2020

Encore Boston Harbour

0 1.44

Caesars Entertainment Caesars Entertainment

1

3

2 15.7

Revenue ($ billion)Wynn Palace

1.44

2020

2.69

2021

181.3

1.12

1.12

51.4

2.7

51.4

2.72020 revenue by IGT Q3 2021 and Q3 geography ($ million

2020 186.7

1

0

2

1

2.7

Revenue ($ billion) 116.7 Revenue ($ billion)

Encore Boston Harbour

192.2

3

0

100

200

556

2021

3

2

294

284

200 125

400

300 US & Canada

500

556

2021 2021

556

200

300

2021

400

284

294 284

200

294

125

134 125

134

200

147

0 US & Canada US & Canada

Source: Company reports

0

50

Italy

Italy

151

Gaming

100

339

231

200

151

147 151

147

100

50

Rest of world Rest of world

0

0

Gaming Gaming

SciPlay SciPlay

53 50

53

iGaming iGaming

53

• US & Canada revenue showed the highest year-on-year increase of 26% • Italy and rest of world revenueiGaming increased by 18% and 7% respectively Gaming SciPlay

147

100

2021 2021

200

0151

231

300 231

Source: Company reports • Gaming and iGaming revenue increased 47% and 6% respectively year-on-year • SciPlay revenue decreased 3% year-on-year

GAMBLINGINSIDER.COM

200

Revenue Rev

400 339

443

200

200

0

2020 2020 400

Revenue ($ million)

Revenue ($ million)

Revenue ($ million)

Revenue ($ million)

339

2020 400

339

ScientificScientific Games Q3 and Q3 2020 Games Q32021 2021 and Q3 2020 Scientific Gamessegment Q3 2021($and Q3 2020 revenue per business million) revenue per business segment ($ million) revenue per business segment ($ million)

Scientific Games Q3 2021 and Q3 2020 revenue per business segment ($ million) 443

134

100

300

Rest of world

Italy

Revenue ($ million)

600

100

0

US Suppliers

2021 and Q3 2020 revenue byrevenue by IGT IGT Q3Q3 2021 and Q3 2020 IGT Q3 2021 and Q3 2020 revenue by geography ($ million geography ($ geography ($million million)

600

0

400

US Suppliers

2020 2020

400

476

3

443

Revenue ($ million) 0

100

186.7

• Wynn Palace revenue enjoyed the highest year-on-year increase (1055%) 116.7 Games Q3 2021 and Q3 Scientific • Encore Boston Harbour suffered the lowest 116.7 revenue per business segment ($ m Encore Boston Harbour Encore Bostonyear-on-year Harbour increase (65%) 192.2 192.2 2020 20

Revenue ($ million)

0

600

Revenue ($ million)

Las Vegas Operations

231

186.7

Las Vegas Operations

130.7

300

130.7

Source: Company reports

Wynn Macau

400

130.7

Wynn Resorts Q3 2021 and Q3 2020 revenue per property ($ million) Las Vegas Operations

181.3

M Resorts International MGM Resorts International 2.69

181.3

US Operators 51.4

2.69

Wynn Macau Wynn Macau

Wynn Palace

0

15.7

Wynn Palace

Wynn Resorts Q3 2021 and Q3 2020 revenue per property ($ million)

15.7

Betsson Betsson

7

4

Sports

1.73 ($190m) 1.73 ($190m)

2

Total

2

6

5 • Caesars Entertainment revenue increased by 86% 0 year-on-year Betsson Kindred Group Svenska Spel • MGM Resorts revenue increased by 140% year-on-year, and just pipped Caesars’ overall tally Comparing Gaming Total Caesars Entertainment and MGM Resorts International Q3 2021 and 2020

Total

2021

8

Sports

Caesars Entertainment

5

4

3 Gaming

ISSUES 1

NUMBER CRUNCHING 12

15

10

3

Comparing Q3 2021 year-on-year revenue changes for three of Sweden’s largest operators (SEK billion)

17

6

5

4

11 10Entertainment and MGM Resorts International Q3 2021 and Comparing Caesars 2020 revenue ($ billion) 6

1.97 ($220m) 0

Source: Company reports

5

September

5 US Operators 5

Comparing Caesars 2 Entertainment and MGM July September August July September August Resorts International Q3 2021 12 and 2020 revenue ($ billion) 1

0

15

Flutter Entertainment Flutter Entertainment

Revenue (SEK Billion)

5.88

4 ($730m)

Revenue (SEK Billion)

4

August

25

percentage increases, per vertical

Entain Entain

Revenue (SEK Billion)

5.88 ($730m)

($550m)

4 Entain

17

July

Comparing Q3 2021 revenue for three of Sweden’s 20 largest operators (SEK billion)

Comparing the6 operators’ Q3 2021 year-on-year 4.44 6 percentage increases, per vertical ($550m) 4.44

17

0

8.44 ($1.05bn) 8.44 ($1.05bn)

8

Revenue (MOP billion)

Revenue (MOP billion)

8

25

Year-on-year % change

10

2021 2021

2.21 ($280m)

1.33 ($170m)

Year-on-year % change

10

1.34 ($170m)

2

Year-on-year % increase

2020 2020

Reve

Comparing Macau 2021 and 2020gross (MOPgaming billion)revenue for Q3 2021 and 2020 (MOP billion)

15

SciPlay

ISSUES

FANTINI RESEARCH

IN NUMBERS In partnership with Gambling Insider, Fantini Research analyses November state revenue totals in three key US states: New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Indiana.

NOVEMBER: NEW JERSEY NEW JERSEY ALL-SOURCE REVENUE

REVENUE (M)

% CHANGE VS. 2020

% CHANGE VS. 2019

Bally's AC (BALY)

$11.955

+83.15

-15.30

Harrah's (CZR)

$22.580

+78.16

-11.78

Tropicana (CZR)

$30.144

+46.98

+9.60

Borgata (MGM)

$89.824

+44.45

+29.53

Resorts

$62.519

+40.36

+83.53

Ocean

$30.947

+30.08

+36.90

Caesars (CZR)

$26.939

+29.06

-18.16

Hard Rock

$43.492

+25.49

+66.00

Golden Nugget

$43.749

+24.62

+20.69

Total Gaming

$439.629

+52.15

+43.68

$75.917

+42.18

-11.53

REVENUE (M)

% CHANGE VS. 2020

% CHANGE VS. 2019

Harrah's (CZR)

$22.479

+78.15

-12.10

Bally's AC (BALY)

$11.167

+78.12

-16.70

Ocean

$28.494

+47.93

+46.06

Golden Nugget

$11.946

+37.22

-29.97

Resorts

$12.146

+36.10

-12.59

Tropicana (CZR)

$18.747

+35.89

-20.73

Hard Rock

$37.299

+33.36

+58.76

Borgata (MGM)

$48.315

+32.06

-18.17

Caesars (CZR)

$16.295

+31.05

-42.45

Total Legacy Casino

$206.887

+41.16

-7.62

MULTIPLE PROPERTIES Caesars

LEGACY CASINO

16

GAMBLINGINSIDER.COM

ISSUES

FANTINI RESEARCH

NOVEMBER: PENNSYLVANIA • Pennsylvania gaming revenue rose 54.95% to $447.203m year-over-year in November and 51.95% vs. the same month in 2019, as analysed by Fantini Research.

• Sports betting revenue jumped 75.09% year-over-year to $84.922m. Flutter’s FanDuel led market share at 44% followed by DraftKings at 19% and Barstool at 9%.

• IGaming revenue rose 57.07% to $93.889m, and Penn National’s Hollywood led market share with 40% of revenue. Operator partners are DraftKings and Entain and MGM Resorts’ BetMGM. • Legacy revenue grew 1.64% over 2019 to $268.392m.

• Revenue from fantasy sports was $3.358m, rising 11.38% year-over-year and 12.64% vs. 2019. DraftKings led market share at 60.59%.

• Revenue from slot routes grew 40.99% and 383.17% respectively to $3.185m year-over-year and vs. 2019.

PENNSYLVANIA ALL-SOURCE REVENUE

NOVEMBER REVENUE (M)

% CHANGE VS. 2020

% CHANGE VS. 2019

Live! Philadelphia (Cordish)

$18.352

+6,140

N/A

South Philly Turf Club (Greenwood)

$0.520

+472.62

+53.23

Live! Pittsburgh (Cordish)

$8.364

+269.66

N/A

Hollywood (PENN)

$61.197

+76.32

+190.28

Valley Forge (BYD)

$65.377

+70.06

+213.08

Presque Isle (CHDN)

$10.843

+62.09

+6.20

Rivers (Rush St)

$32.915

+56.11

-3.32

Wind Creek Bethlehem

$42.733

+54.87

+6.50

Rivers Philadelphia (Rush St)

$46.876

+51.76

+55.74

The Meadows (PENN)

$30.719

+49.96

+43.91

Mohegan Sun

$20.253

+29.42

+6.17

Lady Luck Nemacolin (CHDN)

$1.890

+28.47

-30.86

Parx (Greenwood)

$56.181

+11.69

+3.84

Mohegan Lehigh Valley

$0.186

+9.59

N/A

Mount Airy

$20.866

-6.61

+9.28

Harrah's Philadelphia (CZR)

$14.919

-7.61

-29.02

Hollywood York (PENN)

$7.139

N/A

N/A

The Oaks (Greenwood)

$0.000

N/A

N/A

Hollywood Morgantown (PENN)

$5.728

N/A

N/A

Caesars Interactive

$2.146

N/A

N/A

Total

$447.203

+54.95

+51.95

Same Store

$436.482

+52.77

+40.19

fantiniresearch.com

18

GAMBLINGINSIDER.COM

ISSUES

FANTINI RESEARCH

NOVEMBER: INDIANA INDIANA ALL-SOURCE REVENUE

NOVEMBER REVENUE (M)

% CHANGE VS. 2020

% CHANGE VS. 2019

Hard Rock Northern Indiana II

$11.450

+344.39

+165.82

Hard Rock Northern Indiana

$17.909

+265.00

+199.14

Blue Chip (BYD)

$25.609

+67.06

+85.63

Hoosier Park (CZR)

$20.509

+66.57

+26.53

Belterra (BYD)

$11.564

+51.28

+59.57

French Lick

$6.595

+48.65

-12.82

Bally's Evansville (BALY)

$11.884

+42.04

+2.07

Hollywood (PENN)

$18.359

+40.92

+29.63

Ameristar (PENN)

$29.755

+25.75

+39.69

Indiana Grand (CZR)

$21.446

+22.32

+12.44

Caesars Southern Indiana

$17.656

+19.60

+9.74

Rising Star (FLL)

$3.748

+17.24

+26.86

Horseshoe Hammond (CZR)

$30.350

-1.57

-4.41

Total Gaming

$226.833

+43.03

+31.82

Total Casino

$179.179

+34.46

+10.07

ALL-SOURCE REVENUE

NOVEMBER REVENUE (M)

% CHANGE VS. 2020

% CHANGE VS. 2019

Boyd (BYD)

$37.172

+61.81

+76.66

Penn National (PENN)

$48.114

+31.14

+35.68

Caesars (CZR)

$101.559

+22.40

+8.23

ALL-SOURCE REVENUE

NOVEMBER REVENUE (M)

% CHANGE VS. 2020

% CHANGE VS. 2019

Blue Chip (BYD)

$15.736

+94.53

+694.43

Ameristar (PENN)

$13.590

+62.11

+214.86

Hollywood (PENN)

$5.408

+113.38

+527.83

Belterra (BYD)

$4.545

+99.49

+5,063.61

Hoosier Park (CZR)

$3.626

+607.79

+681.44

Horseshoe Hammond (CZR)

$1.328

+18.92

+97.63

Indiana Grand (CZR)

$1.163

+131.33

+484.02

French Lick

$1.088

+60.06

+123.22

Rising Star (FLL)

$0.473

+1,144.16

+2,256.99

Caesars Southern Indiana

$0.412

+14.39

+388.51

Bally's Evansville (BALY)

$0.287

-65.82

+128.41

Total Revenue

$47.654

+88.12

+412.49

Handle

$463.685

+84.44

+214.80

MULTIPLE PROPERTIES

REVENUE

fantiniresearch.com

20

GAMBLINGINSIDER.COM

FEATURES

GBGC DATA

GLOBAL OUTLOOK Global Betting & Gaming Consultants (GBGC), the global gaming data expert, provides exclusive statistical data to Gambling Insider on markets from around the world; visit www.gbgc.com for more

State

Population (18+) in 2020 (M)

GDP per capita in Q4 2020 (US$)

iGaming GGY per adult in 2021 (US$)

iGaming start date

Connecticut

2.8

80,124

18.90

12-Oct-21

Delaware

0.8

78,477

11.86

08-Nov-13

Michigan

7.8

52,418

134.77

22-Jan-21

New Jersey

6.9

68,350

186.99

26-Nov-13

Pennsylvania

10.2

61,482

88.29

15-Jul-19

West Virginia

1.4

42,342

23.69

15-Jul-20

Explanatory notes: The table shows US states with legalised iGaming (online gambling tables and slots), their adult population, GDP per capita, and iGaming GGY per adult, i.e., how much operators earn per adult in a given state.

Connecticut figure represents GGY per adult for 2021/22, while for other states is 2021. iGaming launched during 2021 in Michigan and West Virginia, so the figures for those states are not for the entire year period.

Commentary: Operator's highest win per adult is recorded in New Jersey, with Michigan not far behind. The GGY per adult is lowest in Delaware.

Spain Horseracing Handle 140.0

Revenue (€ million)

120.0 100.0 80.0 60.0 40.0 20.0 0.0

2010

2011

2012

2013

2014

Land-Based Handle

2015

2016

2017

2018

2019

Internet Handle

Explanatory notes: The graph shows Spain's total horseracing handle in the period of 10 years.

Commentary: Spain's law from 2012 opened up the online market to foreign competition. Horseracing Internet handle overtook land-based handle already in 2013.

For 2019, latest figures available show land basedVIP handle accounted only 10% ofGGY the total racing handle.

Baccarat Vs Massfor Play Baccarat in Macau Internet helped propel the industry to new heights, increasing handle nearly six times during the period.

45,000 40,000 22

35,000 GAMBLINGINSIDER.COM 30,000 25,000 20,000

5,000 0

Q2 2018

Q3 2018

Q4 2018

Q1 2019

Q2 2019

Q3 2019

Q4 2019

Q1 2020

Q2 2020

Q3 2020

Q4 2020

Q1 2021

Q2 2021

Mass Play Baccarat GGY

VIP Baccarat GGY

GBGC DATA

FEATURES

Chile Casino GGY Vs Number of Casino Visits 700.0

8.0

600.0

7.0 6.0

500.0

140.0

Revenue (€ million)

120.0 100.0 80.0

5.0

Spain Horseracing Handle

400.0

4.0

300.0

3.0

200.0

2.0

100.0 0

60.0

1.0 2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

2014

2016

2017

2018

2019

2020

0.0

Number of casino visits (M)

Casino GGY (US$)

40.0

2015

20.0

Explanatory notes: The graph shows Chilean casinos' GGY since the new regime took effect in 2008 until 2020. The GGY figures account only for 20 new0.0casinos. Casinos approved prior to the 2008 Law operate under the old regime, for which GBGC keeps a separate track.

2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 Commentary: Chile's casino industry got a new kick-start in 2008 with a new casino law. As new casinos began to open, GGY reached almost $600m in 2012 with 20 new venues.

Internet Handle Land-Based Handle The number of visits is closely tied to casino GGY. As visits began to fall due to the curfews and closures which were imposed by the spread of COVID-19 in Chile, casino GGY began to fall as well.

In 2020 the GGY was only $106m which was generated by 1.3 million casino visits.

VIP Baccarat Vs Mass Play Baccarat GGY in Macau 45,000 40,000 35,000 30,000 25,000 20,000 15,000 10,000 5,000 0

Q2 2018

Q3 2018

Q4 2018

Q1 2019

Q2 2019

Q3 2019

VIP Baccarat GGY

Q4 2019

Q1 2020

Q2 2020

Q3 2020

Q4 2020

Q1 2021

Q2 2021

Mass Play Baccarat GGY

Explanatory notes: The graph shows quarterly VIP and mass play Baccarat GGY in Macau's casinos during the last three years.

Commentary: Baccarat is the highest grossing game in Macau's casinos.

The graph shows that during pre-pandemic timesChile (up until Q4GGY 2019), VIP Baccarat had almost Casino Vs Number of Casino Visits twice the GGY than mass play. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the mass play Baccarat took over, and now over 50% of Baccarat GGY is derived from mass play and not VIP gambling.

700.0 8.0 The authorities are currently targeting junket operators who bring numerous VIP players to Macau. The unanswered question is whether those players will still come to Macau without the facilities provided by the junkets.

7.0 600.0 It also demonstrates that politics takes precedent over commercial activity.

500.0 400.0 300.0 200.0 100.0

6.0 5.0 4.0

GAMBLINGINSIDER.COM 3.0

2.0 1.0

23

TAKING STOCK

TAKING STOCK Gambling Insider tracks operator and supplier stock prices across a six-month period (July to December 2021). The stock price is taken from the first day of each month FLUTTER ENTERTAINMENT

WYNN RESORTS

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Six-month high - 16.73 (July) Six-month low - 9.76 (Dec) Market capital – $4.658bn

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Six-month high - 426.00 (Oct) Six-month low - 314.80 (Dec) Market capital – $1.57bn

150.00

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MELCO RESORTS

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100.00 300.00

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888 HOLDINGS

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500.00

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500.00

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600.00

90.00 80.00

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Six-month high - 122.40 (July) Six-month low - 81.01 (Dec) Market capital - $9.369bn

100.00

Oc Setob pt er em

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Six-month high - 14,820 (Oct) Six-month low - 10,455 (Dec) Market capital - $24.49bn

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ISSUES

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50.00 18.00 40.00

500.00

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0.00 250.00

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200.00

200.00

Six-month high - 5.93 (Sep) Six-month low - 3.67 (Dec) Market capital – $85.503m

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Six-month high - 440.00 (July) Six-month low - 214.80 (Oct) Market capital - $800m GAMBLINGINSIDER.COM

25

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Six-month high - 749.50 (Dec) Six-month low - 370.20 (Aug) Market capital - $3.5bn

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TAKING STOCK

FEATURES

THE HUDDLE

Significant strides Interblock Global CEO John Connelly speaks to the GI Huddle about Interblock’s year, electronic table games, US gaming’s remarkable 2021 – and the future of omni-channel gaming

How has 2021 been treating you and Interblock?

I think it goes without saying that it’s been a challenging year for a lot of the industry.

However, the silver lining is that we came out of Covid strong, at least from a North American perspective. When you talk globally, unfortunately Europe is going through another surge of cases and we’re concerned about that, and Asia is still struggling with another surge going on there.

But the bright spot is North America.

Although we are seeing more cases, the numbers out of the gaming sector post-Covid were some of the highest we’ve ever seen in certain regions. So, that was very helpful to the operators and suppliers alike.

As a result of Covid, as you can imagine, the online proliferation of sports betting and gaming has really taken off in North America — as it has historically in other parts of the world. It’s been a little bit of a surprise for us as to the momentum we experienced during Covid and post-Covid relative to electronic table games (ETGs).

It’s been a catalyst of growth, more than we would ever have expected, and what’s been the biggest surprise to me is that when we came out of Covid, and live table gaming opened back up, I thought perhaps we would see a little bit of a lull because there was additional supply offered to the player base.

But that hasn’t happened. The momentum continues to grow at rates equal to, if not even higher, than during Covid and post-Covid. So it definitely seemed to be a paradigm shift for our company.

How was G2E, both generally and for your company?

G2E this year was not as well attended as years past; however, the calibre of people who attended was, I think, the best ever: decision makers, owners, executives. I think because it had been a couple of years, everyone wanted

26

GAMBLINGINSIDER.COM

to stay in touch with what new innovations were out there and how innovation could help their businesses.

Companies tended not to bring as many employees, but it was a tremendous show, and we went for invitation only because we are unfortunately a target of people

trying to copy. We work very hard to stay a market-leader and innovate with our team to provide the industry with cutting-edge ideas and concepts, and ways to improve the performance of their casino floors – and we want to protect that. But the reaction was actually quite good. It was a more exclusive

THE HUDDLE

environment inside, and people felt very important. You knew when someone was in the booth that they were meant to be there, so you could focus your attention accordingly.

Assuming ICE goes ahead, what are your and Interblock’s plans for the show?

ICE will be very similar to G2E but will allow our European partners and customers a chance to see some of the newest technology hands-on. Especially last year, since a lot of people did not travel internationally or were unable to travel. This is really our way to take what we had at G2E and bring it over to Europe and do the same launch, the same introductions of very similar products and technology.

As we round off 2021 and head into 2022, what do you see as the key trends to look out for when it comes to electronic table games and land-based casino?

By the month right now, there’s such momentum and we’re learning a tremendous amount, both in the domestic North American markets and internationally, as a result of Covid and player perceptions of table games. What I see happening now is a convergence between the online world and the traditional casinos themselves, due to acquisitions and mergers.

We’ve experienced that somewhat in Europe historically, but I think North America is going to be to a much larger extent, where we have the traditional land-based operators – who are also in the online space – creating a unified approach to content and cross-marketing promotions that we haven’t seen before, at least in certain regions. I think that’s going to be something really fun to watch in 2022.

"It’s been a catalyst of growth [Covid-19], more than we would ever have expected" Relative to Interblock and ETGs, we continue to see a demographic split.

Electronic table games cater to many different types of players which we didn’t know about five years ago. There’s one demographic that prefers more of a social aspect, and traditional casinos have such an advantage over online casinos in how to utilise their infrastructure to drive value – they have spas, shows, shopping centres and restaurants. As an industry, we haven’t been able to truly figure out when someone does enter a casino – or we pull

FEATURES

someone online into that beautiful infrastructure and offering – how to get a lot of those people to step onto the casino floor.

What we are finding is that the stadium concept from Interblock is a place that, whether it’s a couple or group of friends, people can go and remain social at the end of the day. Historically, a lot of casino environments and technology are solitary in nature. Whether it’s a slot machine or even table games, you tend not ever to find three or four seats where you can sit together with your friends. So we found that the more social we make electronic table games in various distribution methods, whether it be a stadium or a single seat, has really resonated with the player base.

I see 2022 really as the year when the industry will be ready to talk about sections of a floor, labour issues that resonate in the US – and internationally – and the ability of ETGs to reduce operating expenses and address those labour shortages, as well as the ability of technology to drive more handle and hold. It seems like a natural progression that we’re going to see into ’22; the expansion of a casino floor from an electronic technology perspective is going to grow. Especially when you know that under 2% of the floor currently in North America is ETGs, so it’s really in its infancy.

In our recent Gaming America magazine, you said you see the stakes as never having been higher for the traditional land-based segment. Is that what you meant by what you just mentioned? And if there are other things at play, can you tell us more?

With the proliferation, at least in certain parts of the world, with online gaming and sports betting, you can feel there is a shift in the gaming industry on where it is heading over the next decade, and the new types of players coming to fruition. We as an industry really need to figure out how to optimise the correlation between online and the ability of players to play remotely, and how to utilise land-based facilities to bridge the two to create one plus one equals three.

From my perspective the traditional land-based operators in the US and Canada, and internationally, have such an advantage.

I think you see them now looking for ways to optimise that. At Interblock, our job is to continue to innovate and pull players onto the casino floor when they enter the facilities.

But now we’re looking, like everybody is, to take our content and also put it online, so that when people do leave the land-based facility, they can find the same content, recognise it and continue to remain loyal and play – whether it be a brand or product – remotely, on a handheld device or computer.

That’s what I meant, we all need to be thinking about the positives and negatives. A SWOT analysis relative to wagering in North America and how to use the advantages that we have

GAMBLINGINSIDER.COM

27

FEATURES

THE HUDDLE created over decades as an industry. To not only protect what we have created, but to grow it.

You have been in the industry for quite a while, so this shift you talk about, is it one of the biggest shifts in terms of disruption you have seen? As for Interblock, you mentioned your ambitions to look at online content — what are your goals and how are you planning to approach this area in 2022?

We are absolutely looking to go into the online space. I have been hesitant over the past few years simply because the organic growth of our company and the infrastructure – we were very focused on sustaining the market-leading position we have on the ETG side and the traditional land-based; and there have just been so many new ideas and concepts to execute on, and frankly scale the company and build a foundation globally to support that demand.

But now, looking forward, and seeing what’s going on, it’s a natural progression to take that infrastructure, that brand recognition,

coming months that are designed to address demand in places such as Latin America or Asia-Pacific.

Unique products, whether it be for Asia, with sic bo and various forms of baccarat, to new forms of roulette, which tends to be the predominant product demand in Latin America. So we continue to increase product offerings throughout each region — we’ll continue to expand — and from that, we’ll begin to then see how we can take best practices from the land-based side and evolve those into a more online type of offering.

In a word or a phrase, how would you sum up 2021 and how would you sum up what you’re hoping for next year?

2021 was surprising. I think when everybody came out of the holidays last year, we came out with a little bit of concern and scepticism about where we were going to end up in the coming year. But looking back, I think most people would say 'wow.'

It’s much, much better than we would have anticipated in a very positive way. I think

"I see 2022 as the year when the industry will be ready to talk about sections of a floor, labour issues that resonate in the US — and internationally — and the ability of ETGs to reduce operating expenses and address those labour shortages" certain play actions and IP that we have created, and bring that to the online space.

I think we’d be foolish not to. We’re finally at a point as a company where we have built a big enough foundation and infrastructure that we can handle two paths simultaneously, without jeopardising quality or that growth momentum we’re seeing.

Looking more internationally, your partnership with Holland Casino was a big achievement. What aims does Interblock have on a global scale?

We’re investing heavily right now, whether it be Asia-Pacific, Latin America, Europe – we’re seeing across the board double-digit growth in infrastructure and hiring. The challenging part is obviously trying to time resource allocation to market openings and momentums. Covid is a challenge to say the least, but we are launching several new products in the

28

GAMBLINGINSIDER.COM

it shows the resilience of the industry and the player demand for this segment. I think it accelerated so many areas of gaming that we have talked about for years, at a much, much faster pace than would have happened without Covid.

From many conversations I’ve had, people were anticipating to be where we are today in three or four years from now.

I foresee a lot more M&A activity to come in the next 12 months because of all of this positive momentum and the economic environment of a lot of these companies is so strong right now. Despite seeing Covid affect the international markets again in a very serious way, I think the industry is very diversified in many aspects globally.

Because of that, we’re going to see significant investments and significant strides forward, perhaps at a faster rate than what we’ve seen in the past couple of decades.

FEATURES

GLOBAL GAMING AWARDS LONDON

UPDATE: GGA LONDON The Global Gaming Awards are pleased to announce the final Shortlist for the Executive of the Year category, sponsored by Bragg Gaming The most reputable and prestigious Awards in the gaming industry are back. With every Shortlisted company nominated for a specific reason, and a rigorous voting process, The Executive of the Year category is no exception. Julian Perry, Editor-in-Chief of Gambling Insider, sums it up best: “So many people deserve recognition for pushing not just their companies forward but the entire industry.

“Unfortunately we can’t recognise everyone but we’ve tried our best by making this the only Global Gaming Awards category with 25 nominees, rather than 10.”

The full Shortlist for each category will be released in the public domain shortly, with the winner announced in April. Until then, Gambling Insider is delighted to share the full list of nominees in the Executive of the year category: Brigid Simmonds, Chair, Betting & Gaming Council, has held the position of Chair since the BGC was established in 2019, overseeing yet another successful year.

Serving Paddy Power for over 10 years, David Newton, CEO, Paddy Power Retail, is next on our Shortlist.

Marina Ostrovtsova, Executive Director, BGaming, has shown herself as a reliable and active leader, launching several projects and processes for operators worldwide.

888 Holdings CEO Itai Pazner is our next nominee, helping guide the operator to solid growth over the past 12 months and spearheading the acquisition of the famous William Hill brand.

For over 20 years, Carsten Koerl, Sportradar CEO, has combined sports and analytics to keep the company going strong. He is recognised in our Shortlist for this very reason.

Todd Haushalter, Evolution CPO, has overseen all aspects of the live casino supplier's hugely successful games, including new product development and unparalleled leadership.

Parimatch Tech Founder Katerina Belorusskaya stands as a contender for the Award, due to her active involvement in the reorganisation of the company, focusing on corporate control, capital and talent management.

John Connelly, Interblock Global CEO, brings over 30 years of experience in the gaming sector, with a distinguished record of

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GAMBLINGINSIDER.COM

business development, innovation, mergers and acquisitions. He takes a respected seat at our Awards nominee table.

Head of Responsible Gaming and Research, Kindred Group, Maris Catania is one of the industry leaders when it comes to responsible gambling efforts, and is a pioneer in initiating key events for operators.

Michael Daly, Catena Media CEO, has transformed the company’s growing US media operations, leading the super affiliate to achieve fantastic financial results.

LeoVegas Group CEO Gustaf Hagman has over 20 years of experience in entrepreneurship and the online gaming industry, continually overseeing growth for the online operator.

FDJ Chairwoman and CEO, Stéphane Pallez, has transformed the operator and led it to expand largely into online sports betting.

Jesper Søgaard, Co-Founder & CEO, Better Collective, has increased the company’s commitment to responsible gambling, launching the Gamalyze self-assessment tool.

Cecilia Wachtmeister, EVP Business & Group Functions, Kambi, earned praise for her management of the commercial, marketing and strategic directives over the past year.

Vigen Badalyan, BetConstruct Founder & CEO, has continued to take both BetConstruct and VBet to new heights in 2021.

Aiste Garneviciene, COO, BetGames,

has made the company an exciting supplier across the live casino and dealer verticals, with immersive betting experiences, ease-of-use high bet rates and record-low CPAs. Martina Åkerlund, Triggy CEO, has successfully transitioned from the banking industry to lead Triggy with aplomb. Among her highlights, the company partnered with Better Collective for the launch of live-score mobile apps across a range of markets.

Dima Reiderman, BtoBet COO, was a key factor in agreements with Tier-1 operators William Hill and Betfair in Latin America.

Paf Chief Responsibility Officer and Deputy CEO, Daniela Johansson, has overseen the operator's progress in terms of environmental sustainability and climate impact.

SG Digital's iGaming CEO, Dylan Slaney’s vision has also led to the company’s first-ever acquisition of a live casino provider, Authentic Gaming, and the purchase of Lightning Box. Renato Ascoli, CEO Global Gaming, IGT, has overseen the company's emergence as a leader in cashless gaming, and launched a vast portfolio of new games and cabinets into the market.

Mor Weizer, Playtech CEO, has steered the supplier to become stronger as it emerged from the challenges of the Covid pandemic as a more sustainable company.

Bet365 CEO and Co-Founder, Denise Coates, is synonymous with the industry itself and continues to push responsible gambling awareness, donating significantly to charitable causes.

Genius Sports CEO, Mark Locke, has led the company to achieve strong financial results in the past 12 months, with its Q3 2021 results jumping 70% YoY. And last but by no means least is Jette Nygaard-Andersen, Entain CEO, who has continued the company's strong growth, positioning it well for sustainable growth by putting in more effort in responsibility and innovation.

It's all to play for in our only category that rewards the individual and not the company.

This category is sponsored by Bragg Gaming – the global gaming technology and content group and owner of leading B2B iGaming companies, while the Global Gaming Awards London are powered by Gambling Insider.

GLOBAL GAMING AWARDS LONDON

BRIGID SIMMONDS

DAVID NEWTON

MARINA OSTROVTSOVA

ITAI PAZNER

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CARSTEN KOERL

Betting & Gaming Council Chair

Paddy Power Retail CEO

BGaming Executive Director

888 Holdings

CEO

Sportradar CEO

TODD HAUSHALTER

KATERINA BELORUSSKAYA

JOHN CONNELLY Interblock Global CEO

MARIS CATANIA

Kindred Group Head of Responsible Gaming and Research

MICHAEL DALY

Catena Media CEO

STÉPHANE PALLEZ

JESPER SØGAARD

CECILIA WACHTMEISTER Kambi EVP Business & Group Functions

VIGEN BADALYAN

BetConstruct Founder & CEO

Evolution CPO

GUSTAF HAGMAN

Parimatch Tech Founder

LeoVegas Group CEO

FDJ Chairwoman & CEO

Better Collective Co-Founder & CEO

AISTE GARNEVICIENE

MARTINA AKERLUND

DIMA REIDERMAN

DANIELA JOHANSSON

DYLAN SLANEY

RENATO ASCOLI

MOR WEIZER

DENISE COATES

MARK LOCKE

JETTE NYGAARD-ANDERSEN

BetGames COO

IGT CEO Global Gaming

Triggy CEO

Playtech CEO

BtoBet COO

Bet365 CEO & Co-Founder

Paf Deputy CEO

Genius Sports CEO

iGaming CEO

Entain CEO

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CEO SPECIAL

CEO SPECIAL We speak to four of the biggest names in our industry, leaders helping shape the present and future of the sector: FanDuel CEO Amy Howe, Paddy Power Retail CEO David Newton, PointsBet CEO Sam Swanell and Betting & Gaming Council CEO Michael Dugher

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CEO SPECIAL - AMY HOWE

SLIDING DOORS

FanDuel CEO Amy Howe speaks to Tim Poole about having an identical twin sister, learning at McKinsey & Company, turning FanDuel into a $7-10bn brand and much more

for the executive outside the classroom, as she tells Gambling Insider: “Eden’s a very rural farming community and it’s a very hard-working, high-integrity area. I always say I got my grit from growing up there; if you’ve ever been there, you’ll know why.”

I

f it were not for the Covid-19 pandemic, Amy Howe might not be FanDuel CEO right now. In fact, but for a sit down with her father after university, Howe might have missed out on a career in management and consulting altogether. Indeed, when Howe opted against running her family’s food business, she instead pursued a distinguished pathway involving roles at Accenture, McKinsey & Company and Live Nation Entertainment. It is for this reason the

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FanDuel CEO describes her professional and personal life as “a series of sliding doors.”

And, whatever might have been, Howe is now one of the foremost leaders in one of the world’s most exciting digital markets.

It all started in Eden, a small town outside Buffalo, New York, populated with less than 8,000 people. Howe went to a small local public school and received a “great education,” later attending Cornell University. But Eden bears more relevance

SEEING DOUBLE Howe’s grit, and competitive side, has always been helped by the fact she has an identical twin sister. “When you grow up as an identical twin in a small town, you are competitive!” she laughs. Joining Amy in the Haveron (Howe's pre-marriage surname) household, and as a potential partner in running the family business, was her sister Kelly (now Kelly Ungerman).

In fact, Kelly joined Amy far beyond the household, with the two actually following identical career paths until Amy joined Live Nation.

They both joined Andersen Consulting (now Accenture) and McKinsey, where Kelly is still a Partner and has been for 21 years.

The Haverons’ decision to join the firm kick-started Amy’s career in consulting.

She spent three years in the Chicago office, before heading to The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania to gain an MBA. After Wharton, McKinsey & Company came knocking, “one of, if not the, best management consulting

CEO SPECIAL - AMY HOWE

firms in the world.” What followed were some of the most formative years of Howe’s career.

Despite her high-level education, it was during her time consulting where she learned “the art of business and how to solve very complex problems.” Specifically, Howe highlights learning how to influence people to take action – and particularly people who don’t report to you. “In the end, I think I spent 17 years in consulting, with the majority of those at McKinsey in the Southern California office,” she reflects. A little of Howe’s competitive streak comes out as she adds: “I believe we [herself and Kelly] are the only twins that ever made Partner at McKinsey.”

THE GREATEST ASSET As explored in past issues of Gambling Insider, the route to CEO can be a varied one.

For Howe, years of consulting enabled her to influence others, but also to learn

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from different sources. At Accenture and McKinsey, one learning stands out: “People are your greatest asset. When you come from a professional services firm, it’s the people that are helping you create intellectual property. So I think I learned the importance very early on of attracting, developing and retaining the very best talent in the world.

I brought that with me to every future opportunity I’ve had.”

Perhaps even more pressing for the FanDuel CEO, however, are the values of a meritocracy. For Howe, tenure matters little when building a “really high-performing organisation.” “It truly is about who is the most talented, who has the best skill set and who’s ready for the job. Philosophically, I believe very strongly in a meritocracy,” she states unequivocally.

In her career to date, Howe also admits she owes some of her success to those who have advocated opportunities that “candidly, I could not create myself.”

The executive namechecks Live Nation Entertainment CEO Michael Rapino here, as well as Flutter Entertainment CEO Peter Jackson. Someone she reserves special gratitude for is Laxman Narasimhan, now CEO of Reckitt Benckiser Group, without whom Howe would not have made Partner at McKinsey.

AN OBLIGATION TO DISSENT Inevitably, the FanDuel CEO always gets asked what it’s like to be a senior female executive in a male-dominated industry (“both live entertainment and sports betting are, by the numbers, certainly male-dominated”).

The executive is so used to discussing this topic, in fact, that she addresses it without us raising the question. She explains: “I learned early on, particularly at McKinsey, if you weren’t comfortable finding your voice,

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you weren’t going to be successful.

“McKinsey talks about it from day one when you come into the organisation as an associate; they talk about obligation to dissent.

This means ‘we don’t care if you’re straight out of undergrad or business school, you have an obligation to express your point of view; and we value your opinion as much as we value a senior partner at the firm.’ If you can’t figure that out, you’re just not successful at the firm.”

"When you grow up as an identical twin in a small town, you are competitive!"

Although this is culturally hard to instil in corporate America, Howe remarks, it was how she was brought up in business given the DNA of a firm like McKinsey. This, along with the grit she gained from Eden, is why when Howe transitioned to Live Nation – operating in a very male-dominated industry – she “never thought twice about the fact I was the only woman in the room.”

FANDUEL: THE JOURNEY BEGINS Returning to the “series of sliding doors,” Howe goes into detail on why she might not be at FanDuel today were it not for the effects of the pandemic. This is a thought-provoking concept considering she views her current role as a “once-in-a-career opportunity.”

Before being appointed Interim FanDuel CEO in February 2021, then permanent CEO in October, Howe was nearing eight years at Live

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Nation and ran the North American division for Ticketmaster. The obvious problem, however, was that the pandemic “literally shut the entire live entertainment industry down for a good year and a half or so.” It was the biggest crisis the company, and sector, had ever seen.

Howe steered her company through this – but then admits “we were in a bit of a holding pattern.” It was then that FanDuel reached out. “If it wasn’t for the pandemic, I may not have taken advantage of this chance. But as I learned more about it, it was a once-in-a-career opportunity and I couldn’t have been more delighted,” she beams. “As I said, when I was interviewing, people kept saying it’s a once-in-a-career opportunity and it was very clear to me that it was. Listen, I will say so far it’s been one of the most rewarding chapters of my professional career and I’m just getting started.”

Given FanDuel’s years as a daily fantasy sports operator, and the meteoric sports betting rise that followed the overturning of PASPA in May 2018, Howe acknowledges she is “very fortunate to step into a role where

we’re in a leading position in the US.” In her words – and many others’ – FanDuel is America’s number one sportsbook, having scale and diversification others simply can’t match, and being backed by parent company Flutter to create a “pretty spectacular position to be in.” FanDuel and DraftKings have, for years now, been synonymous with mobile sports betting in the US. Indeed, even as the BetMGMs, Barstools and Caesars carve out their market positions, FanDuel and DraftKings remain the pace-setters.

CASINO AND IGAMING Naturally, though, in such competitive state markets across the US, resting on one’s laurels creates a recipe for disaster. That’s why Howe and the FanDuel team want to utilise Flutter’s decades of experience and boost, for one, the brand’s online casino offering. “It’s been phenomenal; obviously it’s a very competitive industry right now but we’re really focused on a few things,” she outlines.“One is strengthening that position as America’s number one sportsbook; we came out of Q2 with a 42% market share, and we need to continue to strengthen that moat, particularly on the product side. My second big objective is to really elevate the importance of the casino and iGaming segment. It’s critically important to our overall portfolio; we’re sitting here with Flutter, the largest online gaming operator, and we have tremendous assets we can and haven’t yet fully leveraged. So casino, you’re going to see a lot more coming in that space.”

When Gambling Insider asks how FanDuel can retain its market share amid competition from DraftKings, BetMGM and the like, the CEO reiterates those concepts of scale and diversification: “Just to contextualise these numbers for you, by the end of the year we’ll be $2bn in revenue; just two years ago, we were $500m in revenue. Now we’ll hit $500m in one quarter. We think at $2bn that puts us 40-50% bigger than our next biggest competitor in the US. So we have had scale and diversification, meaning breadth of portfolio, that candidly other operators haven’t.”

BIGGER THAN GATORADE If those two factors are FanDuel’s main competitive advantages, product and marketing are what Howe terms the operator’s “two big drivers of success.” FanDuel will only retain its customers by possessing the most distinctive offering in the marketplace, according to the CEO. One such example is same-game parlays, with which FanDuel was first to market in 2019. It was a product that migrated from Australia, allowing the brand to “leverage decades of experience and pattern recognition” from Flutter colleagues overseas. As many as 80% of active NFL users have used

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the product this season, indicating heavy engagement. In Howe’s words, “even if the game’s a blow-out, people are watching because they want to see how their bets played out.”

On the marketing front, meanwhile, Howe champions the fact that FanDuel “rivals some of the biggest sports brands in the world.” In states where sports betting is legal, for instance, FanDuel’s activation numbers show an awareness that exceeds Gatorade – the 51-year-old sports drink company sold in 80+ countries the world across. “The awareness and usage numbers are really pretty spectacular,” Howe tells Gambling Insider.

of 2021, Keith Whyte, Executive Director of the National Council on Problem Gambling, told Gambling Insider the US is far behind the UK in terms of responsible gaming.

As such, forward planning certainly makes sense in this department. In Howe’s own words: “FanDuel is taking a very proactive stance on responsible gaming. While in the early days it’s not necessarily a challenge right now, we take it on as a challenge.

Simply because we think it’s important for the long-term viability of both the industry and our company.” This type of thinking, if backed up by action, will save FanDuel’s compliance teams both time and effort in the future. Other US-facing operators may wish to take note.

"My big objective is to really elevate the importance of the casino and iGaming segment"

THE ONE-SCREEN EXPERIENCE Responsible gaming in the US, though, will be a tough nut to crack. Legal sports betting is still in its infancy – and yet the proliferation of markets across the US has given it a headstart over some of its international counterparts. More specifically, there is convergence happening in the US between sports betting companies, mainstream broadcasters and rights owners.

This is in stark contrast to more traditional markets in Europe, where public sentiment is far more anti-gambling. Even Disney recently posited that sports betting will not hurt its family image (despite campaigning against legal sports betting in Florida only a couple of years ago).

FanDuel is no stranger to this phenomenon, capitalising earlier this year by signing an exclusive content deal with the Associated Press. “You’re right, there is this convergence of sports betting, the broadcast owners and the rights owners – we partner up with the biggest leagues in the world,” Howe comments.

“From a business perspective, it’s a very simple equation: we’re always trying to drive the most efficient acquisition, so we’re looking at customer acquisition costs, relative to the value of the customers we’re bringing in.

Who are those media partners and distribution channels that give us the most efficient customer acquisition costs? We’ve made some important bets there, not just media but some of the rights owners, as well.”

FanDuel’s partnership with the NFL is an example referenced by Howe, one that makes the operator’s customer acquisition “both far more efficient and effective.” Integration is key. When highlights are integrated into the app, or odds integrated into the broadcast itself (something FanDuel was able to deliver as early as the Australian Tennis Open in 2019), convergence is so high Howe believes a second screen is no longer needed. In modern society, that’s saying a lot. “It’s about one screen for the consumer.

We fundamentally believe that’s the direction

“We are building the next iconic sports and gaming brand. This is not just about the fact FanDuel’s a betting platform. We want to be that next iconic brand. Having come from live entertainment, we play a role in delivering unforgettable moments for consumers.

You remember your first concert, right?

And you probably remember your first big sporting event, as well? For us to be delivering those experiences, that’s where we want our brand to sit.”

A PUBLIC GAMBLE OR A PRIVATE FLUTTER? Howe has very much taken the helm at a winning team with FanDuel. Yet the unavoidable challenge that poses is the requirement for extremely high standards.

A key question, fuelled by media speculation over the last few months, is exactly how the operator can maximise its long-term success.

Does it continue utilising the resources and experience of parent company Flutter, or does it go it alone – perhaps via a SPAC (Special Purpose Acquisition Company) or IPO? We put the question to the FanDuel CEO. “I’d say a couple things,” she responds. “First and foremost, myself and the management team, we’re laser focused on winning in the US right now. We’re in the middle of the NFL and NBA seasons; those are the two biggest

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seasons, both from an activation and a handle perspective, so we cannot afford to take our eye off the ball. That’s the first thing I would say.

“The second is, candidly, we have what we need to be successful. But, of course, Flutter and the Board are keeping their options open.

If we decide we need to move in that direction, or we want to, that’s a decision we can always make. So I’ll let Flutter comment on that when they’re ready to.”

CRITICAL POSITIONING Whatever FanDuel and Flutter ultimately decide here, Howe is well aware of her expectations. When Gambling Insider asks what the hardest part of being CEO is, the first area she singles out is “how to position FanDuel to be a $7-10bn company.” Those are valuations Howe sees as well within the brand’s reach, depending on how quickly new states legalise sports wagering. “Making sure you can position your company and scale effectively to meet the demand in the market is going to be really critical,” she affirms, projecting that within the next 18 months, as many as eight more states could be coming online.

Another area Howe highlights is responsible gaming – and it’s worth mentioning she is first to bring this topic up without Gambling Insider bringing it to her attention. “We feel a tremendous sense of responsibility to make sure we can lead around responsible gaming,” Howe says. She then rightly points out that there is far more regulatory scrutiny facing more mature markets across the Atlantic Ocean. Supporting that point, at the start

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things are going,” she notes.

“I think ultimately it’s interesting to hear [NBA Commissioner] Adam Silver talk about this: you could imagine a world where it could be personalised. If you’re sitting at home and want odds in the broadcast, you can select that option. But if you have kids at home and for whatever reason you don’t want odds, you can have a different view of the world.

We’re not there yet but we absolutely see a greater convergence of sports betting, rights owners and the broadcast partners integrating into one experience. When we do that, we’re absolutely seeing higher engagement and ultimately higher lifetime value numbers for our customers.”

STAY HUMBLE, STAY HUNGRY As we approach the end of our discussion with the FanDuel CEO, we ask what the single most enjoyable aspect of her job is. “Building a really high-performing team," Howe replies. "One of the things that really attracted me to FanDuel was the quality of the management team and the organisation.

We have a set of operating principles: there’s a bunch of them but one of my favourite is ‘stay humble, stay hungry.’ There’s a culture in our organisation where we’re never happy with where we are and we’re constantly pushing ourselves to be better.

“As I say, I’m a very competitive person and we’re part of a publicly traded company; but having the privilege of advocating for really successful people in the organisation, bringing great new talent to the organisation, and building something that is bigger than any one of us individually, is exciting to me.

I feel like at this stage in my career it’s my

"If you’re sitting at home and want odds in the broadcast, you can select that option. But if you have kids at home, you can have a different view of the world" opportunity to give back and pay it forward to the next generation.”

Howe is also “very excited about bringing much-needed diversity to the industry – both in terms of gender and people of colour.” During Howe’s time at Ticketmaster, 40% of the organisation was female, leading to concrete, higher-performing results and instilling a sense in the executive that diversity is not just a vanity metric.

“The stats are compelling,” she says.

“McKinsey did a study that showed 25-30% higher performance if you can really crack the code on diversity and inclusion.

And, candidly, future employees, if they don’t’ see it, they’re not going to come and work for you.”

THE FINAL WORD As a mother of three boys, aged 15, 12 and 10, Howe wears “that mum hat” and understands the importance of educating children at an early age. As the CEO of the “largest gaming company in America,” however, she too feels

the responsibility to lead on responsible gaming. Alongside championing the business case for diversity, Howe singles this out as a personal target in her career.

When Gambling Insider asks Howe if another of her goals is perhaps to compete with her identical twin sister, the CEO bursts out laughing. “I love it! Oh my gosh, years of competing. I will tell you, she was actually valedictorian, so she beat me in High School – but I made Partner six months before she did! Right now, we are each other’s biggest advocates and we always have each other’s back; there’s no more competition, we can be delighted for each other’s success.

We finally, at the very ripe age of 43, took different paths.”

Although Howe jokes that this separation of paths may have taken longer than it should have, it’s abundantly clear she has stepped through those sliding doors to now follow a road truly unique to her. And it’s one that could well shape the most-talked about betting marketplace in the world.

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CEO SPECIAL - DAVID NEWTON

THE CUT AND THRUST

OF RETAIL Paddy Power Retail CEO David Newton speaks to Tim Poole about his time at Woolworths, Ladbrokes and now Paddy Power, where he is steering the brand’s betting shops through Covid-19

P

addy Power Retail CEO David Newton doesn’t believe in career plans. And if you review his particular career path, you can understand why. In an age of digitalisation, Newton transitioned away from a degree in computing to pursue a love of retail. To this day, he truly believes in what the high street has to offer; and while cynics will continually point to the dominance of online, Newton now leads a retail division he believes helps define Paddy Power’s overall brand. The yin to its yang, the operator would not be where it is today in the online world, without the presence of its betting shops.

FROM DIGITAL TO RETAIL Enjoying a “relatively average” upbringing, Newton’s parents were both civil servants in the public sector. He left school aged 18, not knowing what to do but having a preference for technical subjects such as physics, maths and computing. A young Newton solved that conundrum by taking a gap year, though he admits he still “just didn’t do anything.”

While his friends travelled to Australia, he himself ended up working for high street retailer Woolworths. In a “weird way,” though, it led him to where he is today.

At university, still undecided on which path to follow, the now CEO followed “the cool thing to do in the early 2000s” – computing,

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as dot com bubbles began to emerge.

It interested Newton “slightly” but not enough to embark upon a career in it.

However, on the south coast of England, Newton did meet his now wife: “So it was a good thing in the end even though I was not interested in the subjects!”

"My colleagues talk a lot about career plans. I really don’t think it’s something that exists" Moving from digital to retail... in the modern world, Gambling Insider can't help but point out that’s the opposite to the norm.

“I’d love to say people have career plans,” Newton responds. “When I meet people that join our business on graduate schemes, my colleagues talk a lot about career plans.

I genuinely don’t think it’s something that

exists – or maybe it exists for a few.

I certainly didn’t have one at the age of 19.”

He adds, with a laugh: “I’d love to say I left school saying ‘I really want to lead a high-street bookmaker, that’s what I want to do!’ But I hadn’t got a clue.”

THE WOOLWORTHS EXPERIENCE After graduating, Newton started a web design business with some friends. Yet he soon missed “the cut and thrust of retail.”

“The pace, the people aspect, I missed all that and warmed towards doing something a bit more operational and in physical space,” he explains. “And that’s where, after a lot of soul searching and scratching my head, I ended up working for a high street retailer which I’d had a part time job with previously: Woolworths.”

At this point, Newton had had “very little exposure” to the gambling industry that he would grace some years later. He grew up in the Midlands watching Coventry City and held an interest in sport. But the very first bet he ever placed – in a shop – only came during the Rugby World Cup Final in 2003. “Obviously I bet a little bit more now,” he laughs, “and have more knowledge and interest nowadays.” Something else that amuses both Newton and Gambling Insider is the rugby connection; it has to be said

CEO SPECIAL - DAVID NEWTON

Newton bears strong resemblance to a World Cup winner from 2003 – Matt Dawson. “Yes, I’ve had that before!” he remarks, recalling a time when a colleague super-imposed his face onto a bobblehead of the former rugby player in Paddy Power’s Dublin office.

Delving deeper into his career at Woolworths, the fallen UK retail giant that was founded in 1909 but ceased operations in 2015, Newton looks back “very fondly.” By the end, Woolworths possessed a business model that was “fraught with issues.” There are colleagues at Gambling Insider who have never even heard of it. Despite this, Newton enjoyed his time with the retailer and recalls it being a great place to work. Joining on a graduate scheme, he spent most of his time

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“at the coalface,” working in stores and then on regional management tasks.

In fact, some of the Paddy Power Retail CEO’s fondest memories are being a 22-year-old in charge of 150 people in 20,000 square-foot retail units. Woolworths was a good employer, Newton says, which was adept at pushing him into “bigger roles at pace.” He concludes: “There’s a lot I’ve learned there that’s absolutely gone on to form some of my views and ways of working in my current organisation, 14 years later. Whether it’s the importance of people, service, proposition and marketing – all those things I learned at the time and have been pretty valuable ever since. I’m still in touch with a good number of people I used to work with back then.”

"I think the way employees are truly part of the betting proposition is really interesting" Sadly there is no Woolworths WhatsApp group to Newton’s knowledge – but a couple of Facebook groups for ex-Woolworths employees ensure they can all keep in touch.

Like many others, the now CEO was upset to see the brand disappear from the high street.

But far from scarring his love of retail, his time at Woolworths only spurred it on – even leaving him “desperate” for his 10-year-old daughter to one day get a job in retail or hospitality. “That’s really when I think people learn and understand customers.”

IT’S A SMALL WORLD Newton’s next move took him into our industry, one he has made his own over the years.

But, like many who have found their way into the sector, the executive entered it “completely by accident.” He was approached in 2008 by Ladbrokes; it was the same year as the launch of the iPhone, Newton points out, meaning digital revenue was still a very small part of the operator’s wider business. The brand had a “very clear need” for external retail expertise to help modernise. Despite the benefits of promoting from within – something Paddy Power is an advocate of too – there is always room for balance and external perspectives.

At Ladbrokes, Newton provided just that.

“They were very clearly going to market looking for people who’d had relatively big jobs in high street retail, and could bring

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some of that expertise around service and omni-channel,” he explains. “That was the brief. It took a while, I must say, to sell me the opportunity. I remember spending what must have been a good two to three weekends just hanging out around betting shops. The thing that really struck me and got my interest was ‘these are very people-led businesses.’

We see our customers daily – the first-name relationships between staff and customers are really interesting. I think the way employees are truly part of the betting proposition for customers is equally interesting.”

Much of the knowledge Newton picked up at Ladbrokes still applies today. Overall, it was a “really safe environment” for him to learn the industry – an important takeaway point during his years at the organisation. “I met some great people,” he adds. “It is a relatively small world and there are a large number of people from Ladbrokes I still talk to and deal with. There are a lot of familiar faces around the sector – including current colleagues or suppliers.” Almost as if to illustrate that point, Gambling Insider met with former Ladbrokes exec John Pettit at an event two days after this interview... He’d had lunch with Newton earlier that day.

THE ROAD TO PADDY POWER One element of retail betting that immediately struck Newton was its competitive nature.

The CEO believes that, as with restaurants

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and coffee shops, demand creates busy geographical areas. “The way I would go about opening a unit is we go where customers want us,” he states. “And we won’t if they don’t. I think London in particular but it’s also true of other cities with big populations.

London is a very vibrant city – you’ve got lots of football and customers milling around.”

That competition applies at employee level, too, with so many strong brands vying for market share within the UK retail betting space. As such, that ‘small world’ adage came to the fore again while Newton was progressing at Ladbrokes. At Cheltenham and an industry awards show – Newton was at both through work – he met the Paddy Power management team and got talking to them on a “casual” basis. But that casual acquaintance soon led to a formal job offer.

Newton recalls: “I think the pull factor for me was I’d just met some super ambitious, super smart people – ambition in a way I’d not heard before.”

This really was the key word for Paddy Power at that time, one that would define its journey from a “tiny” business to being part of industry giant Flutter Entertainment today. As Newton explains, the UK arm had less than 100 retail units at that time; Ladbrokes, by comparison, would have had around 2,000. Switching from the bigger

company, Newton was encouraged by the goal of growing Paddy Power’s portfolio by 50 shops a year. “It doesn’t sound like a lot – but at that point in time it would have been the same as Ladbrokes opening 1,000,” he adds.

Alongside that appetite for growth, however, Paddy Power was experiencing “some very clear growing pains.” A small organisation, with minimal resources, aiming for new markets was at risk of becoming “messy” operationally. This was by no means off-putting for Newton, though, who read the job description – someone with experience at a high-street retailer and ‘bonus’ experience of retail betting – and thought ‘that’s me.’ “I was excited to work with some challenging, smart individuals. There was a lot to be done in the operations of the business at the time.”

A HIGHLY VALUED ASSET For all his excitement, Newton did suffer a “bit of a shock” when he joined. Accustomed to “relatively flash” London office locations, the now CEO had to adapt to smaller facilities “a million miles away” from what he was used to. “I remember going to our Dublin office, on an industrial estate, even more cramped!” he says. “Paddy Power had just acquired Sportsbet in Australia and was first to market with an iPhone betting app, so there was a lot

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CEO SPECIAL - DAVID NEWTON

of digital growth. I worked in operations for a while and then at some point switched to running the UK retail business. A few years later in 2017, I took up responsibility for our UK and Irish businesses – as we tried to centrally bring them together.”

In 2015, Paddy Power merged with Betfair, one of a series of deals that led to the creation of today’s industry titan that is Flutter – culminating in a mega-merger with The Stars Group. For Newton, this meant spending plenty of time bringing a number of digital-only colleagues up to speed on retail. “There were some urban myths there that needed to be dispelled,” he remarks. “I think we went from a place of new colleagues being intrigued and not really knowing how to think about retail to where we are today, which is understanding a highly valued asset; the Paddy Power brand wouldn't exist without retail."

Backing Newton’s last point up, he was afforded the opportunity to spend time with FanDuel in late 2019, whose CEO has also been interviewed in this edition – see page 38.

There, Newton didn’t directly run anything, rather offering strategic advice and expertise.

“One of the benefits Flutter has of having Paddy Power Retail, and by proxy me and my team, is there’s lots of international markets where you need retail to do business.”

He continues: “The US is a great example because there are some states in the US you just cannot get into without a retail presence.

And therefore it’s much harder for purely digital domestic operators to enter, because they don’t have the expertise, the knowledge or the technology. So I offered advice, joined people up and technological solutions; I was very fortunate to spend a bit of time out there.”

SPORTSBOOK-LED SUSTAINABILITY Coming onto his time as Paddy Power Retail CEO, Newton reflects with pride on two main areas. Given the nature of regulation and

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CEO SPECIAL - DAVID NEWTON

market consolidation within this industry, it makes sense for an operator to prioritise sustainability. At Paddy Power, Newton believes the firm has done exactly that. “It was really clear four, five years ago – but maybe further back – that having a sports betting-led proposition is, long term, how you make things sustainable,” he comments. “A lot of changes have happened to gaming – the reduction to the £2 ($2.66) maximum stake on fixed-odds betting terminals in the UK, for example.

But I think the reason I can very proudly say we’re the only operator that hasn’t closed any shops because of those changes, is because we focused on building a long-term sustainable business that’s focused on sportsbook.”

For Newton and his team, it’s been quality not quantity – and not in a clichéd sense.

At points in time when Paddy Power could have aimed to expand shop numbers to 1,000-1,500 shops, the brand has instead focused on in-shop offerings. For Newton, competing with Entain, Betfred or William

so emphatic that Paddy Power won Betting Shop Operator of the Year at the Global Gaming Awards London 2021.

“At the very core, we had to do two main things,” Newton recalls. “Making sure we delivered on the customer health and safety side: even just basics like ensuring hand sanitizer, signing really well and employees wearing masks. We wanted to be clear to customers that they should not be fearful of coming into one of our environments.

On the product side, we had to focus on what customers want and historically the things we’ve been good at. We spend a lot of time reminding customers of some of the core values we have, offering them generosity to come in and try new products.”

Newton beams with pride as he “categorically” states Paddy Power has not closed a single shop due to Covid-19.

The brand is also committed to ensuring all colleagues were paid in full without recourse to the Government's furlough scheme,

"Nothing gets me more excited... I’ve been amazed: probably about three times a year, someone will send an email saying I wish you’d open up a shop in our local town" Hill on the number of total shops represents a false economy. The strategy instead prioritises premium-quality locations with high footfall, via the company’s sportsbook-led model.

This has helped weather fixed odds-betting terminal-related storms – as well as the Covid-19 pandemic. The CEO adds: “Because of those things, we have some of the best employees in the sector. I’m proud that we pay them more and bonus them more, and we’ve created lots of secure jobs off the back of those things.”

and donated the full £4.79m of business rates relief Paddy Power shops received in 20/21 to Made by Sport, a grassroots community sports charity. It’s a claim the CEO is confident no other retailer can make. This all ties in to that focus on sustainability. The plan for Newton and his staff is to only serve customers who can afford to gamble, on products that are here for the long term. “If we can do all those things and, at the same time, give customers some money to win back and enjoy their product, then we’ll be here for the long term, too.”

OPEN FOR BUSINESS Inevitably, the Covid-19 pandemic is our next major discussion point. While online gambling has flourished during Covid, land-based betting – and the retail sector more broadly – took huge hits. Forced closures cost companies billions, deprived employees of their jobs (temporarily or permanently) and generally ground life as we knew it to a halt. Initially for Paddy Power, this simply meant closing shops in line with government guidelines. The next question, though, was how to reopen when customers and employees were allowed back into properties. The company’s response was

NOT OPEN ALL HOURS Naturally, there is plenty of crossover when it comes to sustainability and responsibility.

Problem gambling is an issue at the heart of the industry; there can be no safe gambling without the correct intervention when it is vitally needed. The difficulties lie in ascertaining exactly when those interventions are required. As Newton puts it, this is a difficult process regardless of channels – i.e it is no easier online or in retail. But he does highlight some differences brought about by the people-friendly side of on-property betting and gaming.

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“It is very different in retail,” Newton tells Gambling Insider. “The approach we take gives customers a lot of extra protection – we’re only open at certain times during the day; we have shop colleagues present all the time, who are trained and certified to be able to intervene and supervise, in ways that online and digital customers can’t see. We don’t allow alcohol on premises; we have some centralised monitoring on CCTV to pick up on problem behaviour to support shops.

It’s hard for employees but, ultimately, we have to have a sustainable business. We were first out on the gaming side and during the fixed-odds betting terminals review we publicly supported stake limits.”

THE FUTURE As Newton looks ahead with Gambling Insider, he outlines goals both for the business and himself. For Paddy Power, focus will go into self-service betting terminals and, perhaps more so, its omni-channel offering.

The operator wants to keep providing reasons for customers to wager both retail and online.

There is “significant overlap” here, according to Newton; he believes the importance of Paddy Power’s retail business to its online arm is “really well recognised” – both internally and by our customers.

On a personal level, however, Newton has his eyes on something very attainable in the short term. “After 18 months of working from home, which has a finite limit to it, I’m looking forward to bringing people together again,” he says. Having been asked recently by an employee what he was doing for self-development, it got the executive thinking. “One of the things I’ve missed is I haven’t been to a proper retail, betting or tech conference in a while. So while some of those things I have mixed views on whether it’s worth attending, in terms of balancing your own time, they are quite good at stimulating thought, networking with people and seeing what’s out there.”

With new shops also opening in Oxford, Mansfield and Bury St Edmunds recently, Newton’s concluding words are dedicated to what is already a large part of his job: being on the road viewing potential new sites. “Nothing gets me more excited than a bit of ribbon cutting and getting some old retired footballer to come down and open a shop for us!” he jokes. “But that stuff is really exciting, because you’re going to new locations where there isn’t a Paddy Power.

I’ve been amazed: probably about three times a year, someone will send an email saying I wish you’d open up a shop in our local town.

It reminds me how much customer advocacy we have for the brand.” Indeed, despite ever-growing digitalisation, it all goes back to Newton’s love for the cut and thrust of retail. It seems it's one the players share, too.

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CEO SPECIAL - SAM SWANELL

GETTING TO T H E

PointsBet Group CEO Sam Swanell speaks to Tim Poole about putting it all on the table after a distinguished career – to create a start-up that is now one of the “material players” in Australia and North America

POINT “If we go right back, I’m a keen punter.”

Sam Swanell’s association with our industry is simple. He’s not sure where it came from – it wasn’t his family – but the PointsBet CEO always loved to bet. Even when he worked outside gaming during his early career, Swanell owned shares in horses and held a keen interest in racing. So perhaps it should come as little surprise that he now runs one of Australia’s biggest gambling operators.

In 2015, as entrepreneurs are wont to do, Swanell went from working for the famous Waterhouse family to “earning peanuts” when he co-founded PointsBet. Sitting down with Gambling Insider, the executive tells the story of his career and the six-year journey that has shaped PointsBet to date.

A CONSCIOUS DECISION Swanell was not always a betting industry guru. At the start of his career, the Australian’s love of betting was restricted to an interest rather than a livelihood. He worked in financial services for a number of years, having completed a commerce degree at Monash University, until the “conscious decision” was made to spend his “finite weekend hours” on the racecourse. He tells Gambling Insider: “I did work on the weekends for an on-course bookmaker.

I wasn’t necessarily thinking of where that

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could lead, but it was a conscious decision as I wasn’t necessarily thrilled with financial services. That’s where I learned the skills of a bookmaker in that traditional environment.”

Eventually, this experience helped Swanell attain his first full-time job in betting: National Sales Manager at Tote Tasmania, which held a regional monopoly before the Australian market opened up to European operators in 2008. The role, for Swanell, was an eye-opener – in that it confirmed his disillusionment with financial services and how much more he enjoyed aligning work with his passion for gambling. He comments: “I’ve always enjoyed betting, playing cards or betting on the horses, doing the form and handicapping. At Tote Tasmania, effectively I was head of all revenue channels, reporting to the CEO. It was chalk and cheese [from financial services].”

“MY BIG BREAK” From world-class sportsmen to professional construction workers, many careers are defined by a big break. For some, that golden opportunity may never arrive. But for Swanell, that’s what his “very senior role” at Tote Tasmania presented. Previously, Swanell had worked at companies such as Macquarie Bank and AXA Australia – these were no small firms.

And yet, despite managing 100 people or so

within these organisations, Swanell felt “very low down” in terms of the influence he held.

He explains: “That first role I got in this industry – now it’s a smaller business but straight away I’m dealing with exciting subject matter.

I’ve got large responsibilities; it’s given me the opportunity to mix with executive-level peers.

So that was really the opportunity; that was my big break. From there, I commuted to Tasmania from Victoria – it was a one-hour flight but I did that for three years.”

After huge success at Tote Tasmania, Swanell was offered the opportunity to start a sportsbook for the Waterhouse family in Australia. A famous Australian name was about to embark upon a new chapter – with Swanell at the heart of it – as TomWaterhouse.com was born.

One big break had led to another.

EMPLOYEE NUMBER ONE The Waterhouses were bookmakers for over 120 years but Tom now wanted to transition his business to online after taking the on-course scene “by storm.”

The sportsbook grew to become a “very high-profile business,” with all the functions of that business reporting to Swanell.

Swanell himself then reported directly to the Waterhouse family, At the sportsbook for four years, taking it from zero to a peak of

CEO SPECIAL - SAM SWANELL

200 members of staff, which he describes as “huge” for his personal experience. Swanell was “employee number one.” The organisation grew rapidly and even controversially: “The Waterhouse brand was everywhere and we did some innovative things in terms of integrations and the like that got up a few people's noses.”

"That first role I got in this industry – I was dealing with exciting subject matter; that was my big break"

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Swanell is visibly regretful as he explains what happened to the brand next. In 2013, William Hill purchased TomWaterhouse. com – a decision that would have made Waterhouse and co particularly rueful in May 2018, when PASPA was overturned to legalise sports betting outside Nevada in the US. “The team wished that business hadn’t been sold, we would have been well positioned to look at opportunities in the US,” Swanell adds.

“The reason it got sold,” he recalls, “is that from a technology perspective, the business grew rapidly but we were having trouble with scalability of the platform and product velocity. We were using a good little local B2B provider, but the business was growing too fast for that provider.

At that time, we looked around the world for other B2B platforms and did due diligence on a couple.

We just couldn’t

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find anything I could say to the Waterhouse family was going to future-proof our business and really meet our needs for the next five to 10 years.”

THE VERY FOUNDATION Despite the TomWaterhouse.com journey ending, Swanell was about to leave his biggest stamp on the industry. Indeed, he wouldn’t be sitting for this interview if that wasn’t the case. Looking ahead, Swanell took the positives of both Tote Tasmania and TomWaterhouse.com forward. When it came to the formation of PointsBet in 2015, Swanell is adamant the experience he gained at both companies provided the “very foundation of the business.”

Here, Swanell is keen to emphasise the contribution of his two fellow Co-Founders – especially when it comes to the concept of points betting itself. Andrew Fahey is now Australia CMO, and his brother Nick is now Australia CCO; Andrew also worked with Swanell at TomWaterhouse.com. The initial concept about a niche spread betting model was down to Andrew, as Swanell helped with capital and Nick held the accounting fort.

“The concept really grew quicker than we expected,” the CEO admits. “We did look to America with points betting but I think a lot of things needed to go right for a business like PointsBet. It’s really important to note that Andrew and Nick were there from day one, then Johnny Aitken came on board in 2018. The very first strategy and presentation, capital-raising documents we did were about proprietary technology, focus on US sports and using points betting as a point of difference.”

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Returning to our earlier discussion about industry interest, Swanell holds the belief his enjoyment of betting and eye for bookmaking all play a vital role in the success of PointsBet to date. When the company started, it was a case of entering the mature Australian market with limited resources. The operator accepted its first wagers in 2017 and by December 2019 the Australian trading business was EBITDA positive. What was the magic recipe? “I think it really does come down to understanding the market, understanding the consumer and finding a niche.”

According to Swanell, PointsBet’s trajectory in the US – where it has an American subsidiary (PointsBet USA) – was similar. He says: “When we entered New Jersey, Johnny Aitken and the team were able to earn some decent market share very quickly, even though we were still very under-scale from a team size and our product. We pride ourselves on understanding what the client wants. Every business wants to understand the customer and hear what their customers are saying – but I think the difference with PointsBet is that the people in the initial executive roles all understood bettors and our market very, very well.”

GO, JOHNNY, GO! Given the importance of the US market to PointsBet, the presence of the aforementioned Johnny Aitken cannot be underplayed for Swanell. Aitken is PointsBet USA CEO and previously spoke to Gaming America for the US CEO Special. A fellow alumni of TomWaterhouse.com, Swanell was keen to bring Aitken on board having known both his personality and capabilities from their prior experience together.

“I’m the Group CEO and the others report to me – Johnny’s role is to execute in the US,” Swanell states. “Early on, he couldn’t do that without a lot of help from Australia because all the resources were there initially. He was our first employee for the USA. But now that he’s built up a great team around him, they’re executing our strategy on the ground. Johnny and I have a lot in common, as you will know from talking to him; we both love betting, he knows risk management trading. He’s built up from that and broadened his horizons.”

Like Swanell, Aitken was well aware of the risks involved in starting a new business.

Clearly, his trading experience assured him this was a calculated risk, because starting anew meant “accepting when you start something you will get paid a fraction of what you’ve earned elsewhere. You go back to earning peanuts when you start off and that’s the risk you take.” This is an honest assessment of the scarier side of entrepreneurship – the side you hear less about when billionaire bosses are delivering

Ted Talks on their rise to prominence.

One Swanell story in particular sums Aitken up. He tells Gambling Insider: “It takes a certain personality and mindset to take that risk but you’re excited by the challenge of that start-up environment. He comes in, having to take a haircut on remuneration in return for some upside in the form of options. I pitched in New Jersey and PASPA was repealed while I was in New York. I was meant to fly home but ended up staying in America for 3-4 months. So I basically said to Johnny ‘okay mate, this is happening.’ He packed up his life and young family, with one child at that stage, and was in America four weeks later. That’s the sort of flexibility and ‘up for the challenge’ attitude he brought to the place.”

A SINGLE-PLATFORM APPROACH PointsBet today has developed into a well-known brand in both Australia and North America, with eventual designs on becoming a global presence. For now, of course, there is enough work to do in existing markets – especially North America. The breakdown of PointsBet’s current business is a 50-50 balance between America and Australia. Naturally, it started ‘Down Under’ but, pretty soon into the company’s history, PointsBet had won market access in New Jersey.

That meant the company’s 70-80 staff in Australia being joined by new recruits in the US. “One thing we tried to do, perhaps a bit differently to others, is have a one-global platform, one-team approach,” Swanell affirms.

“That’s easily illustrated when it comes to things like trading. We don’t have anyone working a ‘graveyard shift.’ We have daylight trading hours in America and Australia, and we’ve got an office in Dublin. Even now, we’ve got 250 people in America, 250 people in Australia, a team in Dublin, a team in Canada, a team in India and a team in Indonesia.

So we’ve got 700-750 people worldwide.”

In Swanell’s eyes, this single-platform approach sets PointsBet apart from the “Flutters and Entains of this world,” who have grown quite plainly through acquisition.

“They might have multiple brands,” Swanell posits, “but they’re also multiple platforms.”

When PointsBet trades across 7-8 different states, by comparison, the operator does so on one system – and aims to continue doing so if it surpasses 30 states (including Canadian regions). “When we trade the Super Bowl, we do it once. We have people trading Australia harness racing and English greyhound racing,” he remarks, with distinct pride in his voice.

MAD ABOUT YOU At the heart of PointsBet’s offering is a niche product. Swanell has already discussed finding this niche and, with the clue in the name, his brand’s speciality is points betting. Similar to operators like Sporting Index and SpreadEx,

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CEO SPECIAL - SAM SWANELL

points betting centres on a greater reward for a greater margin of victory – and vice versa. Unlike traditional sports betting, where a wager on an over/under total either wins or loses, if a US player were to bet $20 on the over – for instance – and the total ended up at 205, the player would win 5x $20 ($100). If the total ended at 210, that bettor would win 10x $20($200). With this multiplier effect, the opposite is equally true, so a points total of 190 would lose the player 10x $20 ($200).

"I said to Johnny ‘this is happening.’

He packed up his life and young family, and was in America four weeks later" Swanell has already discussed the concept’s popularity. And, in fact, the wider popularity of US sports in Australia was another key tenet behind PointsBet’s early growth.

US sports lend themselves very well to points betting, but similarly to an Australian audience.

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As early as 2015, NBA became the biggest betting sport in Australia, ahead of Australian Rules Football and Australian Rugby League.

A favourable time zone is one factor, and so too are big personalities like LeBron James and Michael Jordan. Australians are mad about US sports.

“This is one of the reasons we were able to get to profitability. We built a lot of our quants models and algorithms based on US sports,” Swanell says. “It was great for our Australian business but put us in a strong position to launch in the US – that’s been a strength from day one. The US and Australian teams, based on that, are in some ways interchangeable.

Marketing requires a different approach but, when we hire an engineer, it can be the same requirement across all our offices.”

THE AUSTRALIAN MARKET Of course, the bread and butter of PointsBet’s business from day one, and which still forms 50% of core operations, is Australia. It is a market that has evolved, despite almost weekly advertising fines and, more recently, even more frequent fines for land-based giant Crown Resorts. “We have Flutter here, Entain, bet365, PointsBet, Tabcorp,” he reflects.

“It’s a very advanced and competitive market – 2008 was when the Europeans came into the marketplace. We’ve had some consolidation since then. Ladbrokes have a couple of brands under Entain, too. So it’s a very big market and racing’s a big part of it. There are some advertising restrictions around live sport – the theory there being to protect young people watching live sport. It’s not too bad.”

One challenge the PointsBet CEO does acknowledge is state-by-state regulatory differences – which can be considered somewhat contradictory given the fact one regional licence grants you market access to all Australian states at once. This means keeping up to date with six or seven different sets of rules, with New South Wales notably having seen its regulator fine every operator in the market at one point or another.

An even bigger problem, which might come as a shock to anyone who casually places in-play bets online in the UK or US, is that online in-play betting is illegal in Australia. Swanell explains that you either have to bet in a shop or pick up the phone to place a bet, “which is absolutely ridiculous – because the play’s changed by the time you’ve reached a call centre.” It, too, is a “free hit” for offshore operators offering online in-play. Similarly, the Australian market does not allow online casino.

THE LOCAL CONSUMER Despite only offering pre-match sports and race betting, however, the online Australian market generates around $5bn in revenue net per year. Swanell considers this an “unbelievable” feat – which is centred on building a product customised for the local consumer. It is something Swanell also recognises has been achieved by the UK market. But, crucially, not by the US market to date. He says: “When I look at the US, with a population 13x the size of Australia, I think most of the estimates about the potential of the market are actually

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CEO SPECIAL - SAM SWANELL

“THE MOST REMARKABLE PART” The challenge for PointsBet now is to keep up the early pace it has set. The operator took its first fixed-odds sports bet in March 2018 and is now one of the “material players” in the US market, competing with the likes of BetMGM, Caesars Entertainment, FanDuel, Flutter and DraftKings. Swanell believes “one wrong step” would have been it for PointsBet. “We didn’t have the luxury of making one mistake,” he concludes, as he reflects on the ‘right’ steps PointsBet has made. “Doing the deal to become an official sports betting partner of NBC was a real achievement at the time. Building our own iGaming platform – and becoming one of the six official sports betting partners of the NFL – and the final proof point, being one of nine operators that have successfully obtained a New York licence.”

Having started “under scale,” Swanell is confident PointsBet is now better equipped to compete, even if its fledgling reputation is arguably dwarfed by some of the aforementioned brands. With $500-600m in the bank, and a product the CEO believes is one of America’s finest, Swanell says PointsBet can mix it with the best in the business.

“It’s a very competitive market in North America, it’s not going to be easy,” he admits, “but the fact we’ve been able to get the company to this point – that was probably the most remarkable part.”

under-valued. Goldman Sachs has the highest estimate of about $50bn a year in gross gaming revenue.

“America has pre-match, in-play sports betting, iGaming and racing. So why wouldn’t that market meet its full potential? I think it will; the sports are perfectly suited to in-play sports betting. Our Australian business, which has been profitable since 2019, has achieved that despite the fact most of our focus has been on North America. Australia’s success has sort of been in spite of the fact it hasn’t received a lot of love. Now that we’ve got the resources I spoke about earlier, we can make sure all jurisdictions get enough

resource to deliver what they need to.”

It is obvious why that US opportunity excites Swanell – and it is obvious he is not alone here. PointsBet was set up with the US constantly in mind. He looks back: “When PASPA was repealed, it almost happened too quickly for us. But Australia opened up in 2008 and it’s now been 13+ years.

California and Texas probably aren’t going to open up until 2023. So if you think 13 years after that, the market will continue growing until 2036. So while we’re very, very bullish on the opportunity in the US, it’s not going to happen overnight. That needs to be kept in mind.”

"We have Flutter here, Entain, bet365, PointsBet, Tabcorp. It’s a very advanced and competitive market – 2008 was when the Europeans came into Australia"

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FUTURE ASPIRATIONS AND INORGANIC PLAYS The goal now is for PointsBet to be a holder of 10% sports betting market share in every state it is in, then cross-selling players into iGaming (where perhaps a 7% market share is more realistic). For Swanell, this is a “very achievable target,” although he accepts this will not be done purely organically. “There will be some inorganic plays to be made,” he states.

“We purchased a business out of Ireland called Banach Technology [in March 2021, for $43m].

That really accelerated us in the area of in-play, so there are definitely more opportunities out there to help us scale through M&A activity.”

As our interview draws to a close, Swanell reiterates that, for the next two years or so, Australia and North America remain PointsBet’s main focus. But South America, Asia and Europe are territories Swanell feels can be breached efficiently in future – due to PointsBet’s single-platform approach. Whatever follows, however, there are no qualms in Swanell’s mind that his decision to co-found PointsBet has been absolutely vindicated. “For someone like me,” he closes, “to go from founding to being in the ASX200 – meaning we’re one of the biggest companies in Australia – it’s such an interesting an exciting journey, no doubt about it.”

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CEO SPECIAL - MICHAEL DUGHER

UNITING THE

INDUSTRY

Now tasked with bringing the UK gambling sector together, Betting & Gaming Council CEO Michael Dugher chats to Tim Poole about his many music bands, growing up during a time of political tension and a storied career with the Labour Party

T

hroughout his life, Michael Dugher has mostly been involved in politics.

A former UK Member of Parliament for the Labour Party, politics ultimately provides the crux of Dugher’s story. In his current role as CEO of the Betting & Gaming Council (BGC), plenty of the skills he gained during his political career still prove useful to this day. But, despite that almost-lifelong association with government, Dugher’s other passions have come to the fore in recent years.

Firstly, his love of music (his previous job saw him become the CEO of UK Music) and, secondly, a keen interest in sport – and sports betting. Growing up in Doncaster, a big racing region, certainly helped bolster those interests.

It also set Dugher on a path that would lead him to his main mission of today: uniting the UK gambling industry.

A POLITICAL UPBRINGING “I’m a former politician, that’s what most people would associate me with,” Dugher tells Gambling Insider as we begin our interview. “I was a Member of Parliament for seven years, elected twice – Barnsley East MP. I spent most of that time in Parliament in the Shadow Cabinet; I was latterly the Shadow Minister for DCMS (the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport), which covers our sector now. I chose to stand down in 2017, having really spent 20 years in politics.

Before being an MP, I spent most of the previous 10 years in Government; I was a special advisor in a number of different departments. In my last job in Government, I was Chief Spokesman to the Prime Minister from 2008 to 2010.”

It is an impressive political résumé, by any measure, and perhaps the perfect preparation

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for Dugher’s current role as CEO of the BGC. It’s a role he took up in December 2019, leading a Council that was bringing together not only diverse sectors of the UK gambling industry, but some of the biggest global players in the industry as a whole.

That experience in politics, and no doubt the contacts Dugher has built up throughout his career, will have been undeniably helpful as the BGC evaluated which figurehead could guide it through its formative years.

"I would have probably been described as being on the right of the Labour Party, or centrist/moderate" As far as Dugher’s own formative years were concerned, politics was always the likely path; having grown up in Edlington, a working-class pit village a few miles outside of Doncaster, South Yorkshire. Dugher grew up during the Miners’ Strike in the 1980s, a time of great political division as Conservative Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher pushed ruthlessly to close coal mines across Great Britain – and those who

CEO SPECIAL - MICHAEL DUGHER

sympathised with the miners rallied behind them. Dugher’s father was a railwayman but, regardless, Dugher knew plenty of friends and family who worked down the mines.

“It was quite a political and traumatic time to grow up in that village, and in those circumstances,” Dugher explains. “Naturally, in those days, it was a very strong Labour part of the world. I would have probably been described as being on the right of the Labour

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Party, or these days, centrist/moderate.

I joined the Labour Party when I was 15.

I think from my teenage years, I was very political and studied politics at university, and was involved in student politics. I was National Chair of Labour Students when I was 22. So I think from my teenage years, that was always my ambition.”

ORGANISED NOISE As already stated, though, Dugher saw politics as a profession – and not necessarily a “great love” like many of his peers down the years. It was never his “obsession” and Dugher felt a huge draw towards music and sports. He even played in a number of bands. “A journalist once told me I’ve got a Hinterland – an interest outside politics, in music and sport,” he remarks. “I replied: well that’s like normal people! Normal people are into other stuff.”

Gambling Insider can’t help but ask what bands Dugher was a part of – and whether these involved any particularly fun band names. “They were pretty terrible!” the BGC CEO laughs.“The names were probably as terrible as the bands. One was called ‘Organised Noise’ – we were quite good at the last bit but less good at the first bit.

When I was at UK Music, as an amateur musician – some would say very amateur – I would still play the odd things. My claim to fame: I once played the Cavern Club, which the BBC covered at the time. I’m still very much an amateur musician, and only tend to annoy my family, who have the unfortunate pleasure of living in the same house!”

In 2017, Dugher was able to turn his interest into a full-time job, when he was appointed CEO of the aforementioned UK Music, the trade body that represents all facets of the commercial music industry. Dugher spent just under three years there, during which time he left the Labour Party in 2018 over what he regarded as racism and anti-Semitism within the party. It was a role Dugher was naturally thrilled by until his departure in December 2019, when the newly formed BGC hired him as its inaugural CEO. His task was to guide the Council through the upcoming UK Government review – which at the time of writing, is still upcoming – and to bring the industry together.

“But also for the industry getting its act together,” Dugher is keen to add.

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CEO SPECIAL - MICHAEL DUGHER

GIVING PEOPLE A VOICE Elsewhere, Dugher has held roles in the private sector, as well as being head of policy for a large trade union. As he reflects on this variety of positions, and how they compare to his current job in gambling, the Yorkshireman can’t help but identify “strong similarities.” Chief among those are the “common themes” of Dugher bringing different groups together – and giving people a voice. He tells Gambling Insider: “I suppose I’d be no different than around half the UK population – the 30 million who always enjoy a bet to some extent.

“Growing up in Doncaster, it’s a big racing town and I was always a big racing fan.

I would enjoy trips to the races and a bet there, and dog racing when I was younger.

In Parliament, I’d dealt with the betting industry. In my constituency, like lots of others, the betting industry employed many people. I’d go and do visits in betting shops and do a charity bet on the Grand National.

At the BGC, we are the standards body for

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the industry. We’ve brought the industry together; but we’re about ensuring the nearly 120,000 people whose jobs depend on this industry have a voice.”

This is something Dugher has always strived to achieve, whether in Parliament or with the trade unions. His job in gambling now is, in many ways, very similar to Dugher’s last role at UK Music. Even though it was a different sector, Dugher’s role there involved bringing together diverse groups, such as music labels, publishers, artists, the live sector and more. “So a common theme is bringing people together,” he reiterates, “and, of course, my job is to talk to people in Government, having been in Government before.”

SIGNS OF PROGRESS Looking back on his work – and that of the Council – since 2019, Dugher is encouraged by the strides the BGC has made. “It is only two years since we were set up,” he says.

“So it’s no easy task bringing together very big global operators, but also lots of independent

businesses; we’ve got the casino sector rooted in the hospitality, entertainment and tourism industries. Betting shops are still very, very important to the industry, for tax, employment and money for horseracing, as well as being a big presence in high-street retail. And, of course, increasingly we have a presence online, where we represent world-leading British tech companies. So I think it was an achievement in itself of bringing those people together, and I think we’ve made huge progress in terms of standards, as well.”

The past two years, in Dugher’s words, have seen the BGC recognise public concern in the UK – embracing the safer gambling agenda. Dugher is equally quick to point to the “huge success” of November’s Safer Gambling Week; before highlighting that this is not something the BGC will do for one week only, but rather every week of the year.

Perhaps most importantly for Dugher, there have been statistical signs of progress, with the most recent Gambling Commission figures suggesting problem gambling rates

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CEO SPECIAL - MICHAEL DUGHER

have fallen to around 0.3%. Such data from Great Britain’s regulator is a “key component” for the BGC’s core mission. So too is the work it is doing with the UK Government, ahead of the White Paper that is due to recommend changes to the 2005 Gambling Act.

"We’ve brought the industry together; but we’re about ensuring the nearly 120,000 people whose jobs depend on it have a voice"

THE ANTI-GAMBLING LOBBY Throughout our CEO Special interviews this year, an unavoidable theme has been the excitement spreading across the US market, as sports betting is legalised across more and more states. That theme has been prevalent since May 2018, when PASPA was overturned, paving the way for the legalisation of sports betting in the US outside Nevada. Looking at that excitement across the Atlantic Ocean – among gambling companies, sports bettors, investors and even state politicians looking to boost tax revenue – it might be difficult to empathise with the very different climate currently facing the UK. A far more mature market, UK gambling has for some time divided opinion. And there, for some time, has been the unignorable presence of an anti-gambling lobby.

For the BGC this has meant a combination of both praise and criticism for the work it has done. “I think the BGC has received quite a lot of praise in recent times,” Dugher says, “whether it’s for safer gambling or supporting charities like we did at Royal Ascot. I think any praise the BGC receives is a great credit to the work we do and all our members that support it. There will always be

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critics of the industry but what I’m really interested in is the people, including MPs, that really want to see positive change. We agree with them.

That is the majority of people – they’re not necessarily anti-gambling at all. But there’s always been a hardcore minority within the anti-gambling lobby, which involves a small number of MPs and the usual suspects on social media.”

This anti-gambling lobby is “just a fact of life,” according to the executive. Half the country chooses to wager and Dugher encourages these millions of bettors to spend “their money” safely with the regulated gambling sector. For the CEO,

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CEO SPECIAL - MICHAEL DUGHER

this enhances the enjoyment of sports like horseracing and football, with nights out in casinos equally representing “perfectly legitimate personal choices.” Dugher himself “enjoys having a bet” and is never going to try and persuade the millions of non-gamblers in the UK to change their preference.

He explains: “Those people don’t necessarily object to others doing it; it’s just not something that they do – and that’s okay, too. But there’s always been a noisy minority that are anti-gambling, maybe for religious reasons or other reasons. They think gambling is like taking drugs and tobacco; they think it’s universally harmful to all. The evidence doesn’t bear that out, but when a bishop stands up in the House of Lords and is anti-gambling, we just have to accept there will always be people with these beliefs.”

In Dugher’s opinion, however, this is not a view that’s shared by the majority of Parliamentarians, nor is it the view of the “vast majority of the public.” The gambling sector pays an annual £4.5bn ($6.11bn) in tax and contributes billions to the UK economy. Its financial contribution to sports cannot be ignored, especially horseracing, football (even more emphatic in the lower leagues), darts and snooker. All of this would be put in “jeopardy” if the regulated betting industry did not exist, according to Dugher.

“I think it deserves a voice – it’s just a fact of life there will be people out there that are anti-gambling. But I don’t believe they represent the majority and so I don’t think prohibitionists should be dominating public policy, because I don’t think their view is representative.”

LIFE’S TOO SHORT Something that amuses both the interviewer and interviewee at this point is the UK’s mainstream media coverage of the gambling industry, where national newspapers will slam the sector en masse – against a backdrop of gambling adverts within those very publications. As Dugher points out, if you read the Daily Mail on a Saturday, it becomes quite clear the Mail’s campaign to ‘Stop the gambling predators’ doesn’t apply to the Daily Mail itself. “In politics, you get used to that,” he remarks.

Yet, with the advent of social media, there is now a greater discussion about the merits of gambling on an everyday level. This, of course, has both its benefits and drawbacks – but it has definitely impacted Dugher’s role. An active user of platforms like Twitter, Dugher engages with users in debate quite regularly. Here, social media’s anti-gambling lobby has even crossed over with the tabloids, as Dugher has made newspaper headlines for exchanges held with campaigners such as Matt Zarb-Cousin.

So has social media actually changed the role

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of a CEO? “Different CEOs and different people have a different way of doing things. There’s no right or wrong way of doing it,” Dugher responds. “I think social media is a fact of life, even if we sometimes wished it wasn’t. I do wonder how healthy it is – you take a platform like Twitter, it does attract obsessives and a lot of angry people: the keyboard warriors.

We’ve got a job to do, to tell our story, to communicate the work we’re doing on safer gambling. So in the same way we do stuff with mainstream media, we put out videos and animations on social media – Kevin Schofield [Director of Communications] and others have done fantastic work here.”

Dugher does believe that, to communicate

fierce defenders of the status quo believe any ‘Draconian’ changes will impose a ‘Nanny State’ where personal freedom is eroded and the concept of personal responsibility negligibly overlooked. As with anything in life, the reality will lie somewhere in the middle ground.

Dugher comments: “Obviously, the biggest thing for our industry in the coming months will be the conclusion of the Government’s Gambling Review and the forthcoming White Paper; which I think will contain a package of the most significant changes to regulated gambling we would have seen since the 2005 Gambling Act. I think it’s a huge opportunity for change and it’s something the regulated betting industry has worked very hard on,

"There’s always been a hardcore minority within the anti-gambling lobby, which involves a small number of MPs and the usual suspects on social media" the right messages and carry out a job most effectively, one has to embrace all the available platforms for doing so. That’s why Dugher himself is very visible on social media, even if there are gaping flaws concerning both the safety and enjoyment of social media users.

Much like with the abhorrent online racist abuse that has become so apparent in recent years, a huge problem is the anonymity of certain accounts. The BGC CEO says he is the subject of many “personal attacks” from such anonymous profiles – which he promptly blocks. He explains: “If people are reasonable and civil, I’ll engage with them.

If I think someone from an anonymous account is just abusing me, then I block people. Because life’s too short. You’ve just got to pick and choose between people with legitimate questions and issues, and others that are just using it as a platform for abuse.”

RAISING STANDARDS As 2022 kicks off, Dugher’s main focus at the BGC is inevitably the upcoming Government review of the Gambling Act 2005. He is not alone. The review has been long in the making, generating headline after headline, and drawing extreme opinions from all sides.

Some want policies such as online stake limits, a blanket ban on gambling advertising and proof of income for every bettor in the country. On the other side of the fence,

to embrace changes and the whole safer gambling agenda. That’s the most important thing that will happen over the coming year.

I think if I was one of the 120,000 people whose jobs depend on our industry, I’d be following that very closely.”

Whatever the outcome, the BGC has never shied away from acknowledging the need for higher standards across gambling. Fine after fine is being handed out by the Gambling Commission every year, usually for the same old errors: anti-money laundering failings when checking source of funds and social responsibility failings when addressing problem gambling. The ongoing work of the regulator, Dugher says, is of extreme importance to the BGC and there is no denial that operators must do more. At the same time, though, the industry needs to work with the UK Government and the Gambling Commission to achieve a unified aim. That is where the fundamental balance for Dugher lays.

“I think, really, recognising that the BGC is only two years old, my job is to get the industry into the best position when it comes to the review and future changes,” the CEO concludes. “But long after that White Paper is done, that’ll be my job and the job of the BGC. The job of raising standards won’t be done once the review is complete.

We will have to continue that work – and that’s something we’re looking forward to.”

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BIG QUESTION

How much more important is sports betting data now than five years ago?

Ivo Doroteia, CEO, Sportingtech

Ivo Doroteia

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With more and more people placing sports bets worldwide, and the practice on the rise almost daily, it has become an increasingly important facet of the gaming world to analyse the multitude of data that goes behind it.

Data acts as the fuel that powers the machine of sports betting today. The difference between the modern world and that of five years ago is stark – today, adapting to the “new normal” means acclimatising to a less predictable world.

Data, then, becomes a valuable asset to everyday working life in gaming, allowing us to see a clearer picture of the industry at large and make better predictions for what we can expect for the future.

The process has evolved considerably over the past five years, with players wanting an experience more tailored to their own wants and needs. For example, bettors can now create their own sports bet, selecting from a wide range of markets, including things like players to score, number of shots and number of offsides, and calculating the odds as each selection is added. In turn, this has led to a greater pool of data for operators to choose from – the significance of this for a platform provider like Sportingtech is notable, as it allows for the provision of data-driven analyses of markets of all sizes.

Although sports betting data was not of little significance five years ago, the modernday ability to provide a comprehensive profile of a player is unparalleled. This overview, which was much smaller in scope in years prior, now allows operators to leverage data to give themselves a much

better understanding of their target market.

The US, especially, is seeing sports betting data rise in importance, not only in the last five years but practically on a month-by -month basis – in the post-PASPA world, sports betting is an increasingly popular phenomenon, and one that more and more states are looking to capitalise on. The provision of sports betting data to emerging markets will be a vital asset in the months and years to come, as new operators look to gain a vital insight into the habits and preferences of their players.

The US’ operators, leagues and media brands rely on automated feeds for their insights, with the industry now demanding accurate odds quickly. Catering to these demands is the only way to both attract and retain a sizable player base, something that every emerging US market will want to do.

The ever-changing nature of regulation in our industry also makes data a valuable string to the bow of an operator looking to provide an indication as to how certain products are performing. Accurate indications of player behaviour offer a key insight into how new regulations are affecting the market – the ability to show how, for example, stake limitations affect the way players bet is a vital addition to the toolkit of a platform provider. In turn, we feed this information back to the customer, allowing them to adapt and maximise income under the different regulations.

Sports betting data is not only there for the benefit of the operator - what has changed in the last five years, and undoubtedly for the better, is the emphasis

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on responsible gaming. Gambling regulators in 2021 put considerably more pressure on operators to provide more rigorous player protections, and the kind of data available today can determine what tools are best used and in what way.

In-depth analysis of data on problem gamblers, for example, can be used to ascertain the effectiveness of devices like self-exclusion or spending limits.

The importance of data has grown exponentially in the past five years, and it is sure to continue on this upward trend as we head into 2022 and beyond.

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Data-driven technology will continue to evolve for the good of the whole industry, both for customers and stakeholders.

Ivo Doroteia is the CEO of software development specialist Sportingtech. For more than 20 years he has been involved in creating turnkey betting solutions for operators, as well as offering consultancy and advisory services. With his legal background, Ivo has worked closely within regulated markets, helping operators launch into newly legalised territories and advise regulators. He was previously Chief Operating Officer at Global Lottery Corporation (GLC) and Virtual Sports Betting (VSB) in Angola.

Jeevan Jeyaratnam, COO, Abelson Odds How much more important is sports betting data now than five years ago?

Ask anyone over 40 years old and they will tell you that five years is not a long time, but the last five years has been plenty long enough to witness a significant evolution in the betting data supply industry. Gone are the Eastern European-based video rooms, where multiple satellite boxes were required to pick up games off-tube. Digital streams have replaced those hardware houses and though there is still a way to go to reduce latency, the number of live games that are now covered with a full data suite, by multiple providers, in a form fast enough to allow in-play betting, is mind-blowing.

The digitalisation of television and video is a key element as to how and why we have come so far with sports data. Not only are there more events covered, but the quality and speed of said coverage have improved.

That is not to say that quality is everywhere, and this is also an important point; not all sports data is the same. The more granular the data, the more inaccuracies or differences there are likely to be between providers.

If we examine the utility of sports betting data on a modern online sportsbook, we can attribute the rise in importance and overall quality to the biggest product ‘innovation’ for online sportsbooks in the last five years; Bet Builder. Request-a-Bet, Your Odds, Same Game Parlay, however marketed, the concept is the same. The aim is to push punters to place single game accumulators, where the margins are multiplied and comparison with other firms’ products is laborious.

In October, according to the Nevada Gaming Control Board, sports betting parlays accounted for the casino/sportsbook’s biggest win percentage. That total includes single game parlays (SGP), which are beginning to trend in the nascent US market. In order to create an attractive SGP product you

"DIGITALISATION IS A KEY ELEMENT AS TO HOW FAR SPORTS DATA HAS COME"

Jeevan Jeyaratnam need data, specifically, you need player prop data. The advances on that front during the last half-decade have been impressive.

Those trends have not gone unnoticed, the leagues and organisations now want an ever-increasing slice of the pie, and it feels like we have reached a crossroads, where official data is in danger of pricing itself out of the market. Just as New York may miss its channelisation targets, due to its 51% tax rate decision - fuelling the off-shore market - the leagues and organisations charging sky-high prices for official data may also be stoking the fires of grey market data providers.

Five years ago, the notion of sports organisations having a specific data feed for bookmakers was fairly unheard of, fast forward to 2021 and all the major organisations are looking for remuneration from betting companies for the data their competitions and athletes produce. Examining the distribution of the official soccer data rights during the period, we can see that there are now three

main combatants for the top competitions in the sport. Stats Perform, Genius Sports and Sportradar now consider it a vital part of their long-term strategies to own rights to different competitions within the top tiers of the sport.

In fact, two of those firms are embroiled in a court case with each other over the use of unofficial data.

Even the athletes are starting to cotton on to the fact that their efforts are providing sportsbooks with revenue streams. Led by ex-manager Russell Slade and Global Sports Data Technology Group, a lawsuit signed by over 400 professional footballers, staking its claim to intellectual property rights, is currently in motion.

Over in the US, certain states are mandating the use of official data, which is having the effect of making data more expensive for everyone. Genius Sports is currently paying around $120m annually for NFL data rights, an almighty jump from the $20m per annum that Sportradar had been paying, a fine illustration of just how much more important official data rights have become in the last five years.

Jeevan Jeyaratnam is the COO of Abelson Odds, a B2B supplier, which forms part of the Abelson Info group.

He has over 16 years of industry experience, including, approaching ten years overseeing the growth of the company’s Goalscorer Pricing & Settlement (GPS) feed.

Formerly of Super Soccer Ltd he helped engineer the sale of that business to its GPS partner Abelson Info in 2017.

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BIG QUESTION

Dima Reiderman, COO, BtoBet they have on the players’ betting behaviours, resulting in increased engagement levels.

These tools are essential to provide an immersive betting experience, with access to live data and detailed insights helping punters make more informed betting related decisions.

Should one make reference to in-play betting, punters are more likely to wager on the outcome of specific match-related events, such as the number of corners, free-kicks and offsides if they are readily presented with detailed statistics relating to these specific areas of a live sports event.

It is in this context of fan engagement, and

addressable market and delivering a desirable customer experience.

Offering bets on something that is going to happen in the next few seconds of the game, such as whether a football player will transform a free-kick into a goal, or whether a pitch in baseball is a ball or strike, or whether a tennis player will be serving an ace, represents the best bet for gambling platforms. But, these wagers require accurate in-game data, disseminatedinstantaneously.

At the same time, sports data has boosted the growth of fantasy sports, which as a true skill game where the operator’s interest does not reside in the match’s outcome,

HOW MUCH MORE IMPORTANT IS SPORTS BETTING DATA NOW THAN FIVE YEARS AGO?

Dima Reiderman How much more important is sports betting data now than five years ago?

Data is now considered the world’s most valuable resource. And the sports betting industry is no stranger to this phenomenon.

One may go as far as saying that nowadays, the entire betting experience, the appeal factor it has to the players and the eventual Player Lifetime Value resides in a sportsbook’s ability to leverage the sports data at its disposal.

Up until recently, the major emphasis for any bookmaker lay in the volume of markets available in its offering. However, trends change in accordance with the requirements and demands of today’s players. Simply displaying a wide range of odds without any additional content or features will not suffice for a large segment of players these days, and this is where access to sports data comes in handy.

Players nowadays expect content which is both enticing and stimulating, and data-driven tools such as live match trackers and other visualisation tools have become an important part of the product for any bookmaker, as they seek to grow the influence

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player acquisition at scale, that sports betting data is not only useful, but is ultimately king.

To put it simply, the more data you have, the more betting lines which can be created, which will eventually result in a heightened and more stimulating player engagement.

Importance of sports data for in-play wagering and fantasy sports And this is particularly true when it comes to in-game data streams.

In-play (or live) betting has radically changed the foundations of sports betting.

It has turned watching sports into a gamified, lean-in experience, providing the opportunity for media organisations to build and deliver an increasingly engaged audience. And it is a key asset for operators in growing their

is based entirely on the statistics derived from live sports events. The key to success and differentiation for any Fantasy Sports site resides in the sports data itself. And we already have clear examples of operators, such as FanDuel, who have mastered the industry, allowing them to control the vast majority of the daily fantasy sports action.

As of yet, the industry is far away from truly leveraging all the data it can extract in relation to sports and we are just scratching the surface in terms of the in-game bettor and, more than that, the evolution to what kind of bets there will be. Yet this is set to change in the short to mid-term, with new markets such as the US, highlighting the local punters’ thirst for sports-data driven wagering.

Dima Reiderman joined BtoBet’s ranks from parent company, Aspire Global, where he served as Chief Operations Officer for over two years. Throughout his career he has garnered wide experience in strategic leadership and a strong industry knowledge, playing an integral role in the growth and success of Aspire Global throughout his seven-year tenure. His experience and leadership are focused on developing and delivering technology-driven business services and solutions, providing outstanding client service, and driving profitable revenue growth. His main aim is not only to ensure that BtoBet excels with its sportsbook product in new markets, but also to maintain leading positions in emerging markets such as Africa and Latin America.

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BIG QUESTION

Malte Hegeler, OddsMatrix CEO (EveryMatrix)

Malte Hegeler

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Question: How much more important is sports betting data now than five years ago?

Take a careful look under the bonnet and you can see the engine that drives sports betting has evolved a great deal in the past five years.

Data is the fuel that powers sports betting today, particularly in markets such as the US where operators, leagues and media brands rely on automated, low latency feeds to generate highly accurate, hyper-speed odds and markets to attract, engage and retain millions of hungry sports fans 24/7.

As the user experience has become more personalised through the widespread adoption of BetBuilder-style products across multiple sports, from a platform perspective the power of data-driven analytics has grown hugely to become both commonplace and invaluable for operators in tandem with markets becoming increasingly competitive.

Data-driven marketing insights, so crucial to retention and growing market share, are now gained from a unified, 360-degree view of the customer. The increasing potency of such understandings – which were previously either siloed or managed on a case-by-case basis – can be leveraged in many ways.

Personalisation – tailoring individual or like-minded customers to their preferred betting interests – can now include creating bet suggestions based on a specific sport, location, participants, odds ranges, a certain time or day, a particular market and whether the preference is for pre-game or in-play betting.

Risk can now be considered from a site-wide perspective, as opposed to relating to a particular product, and there have been great strides taken in automating risk management. The best solutions in assessing risk associated with an individual are dynamic and occur close to real-time, starting from the moment of registration and lasting the entire customer journey.

The possibility of managing risk based on cross-product betting behaviour was more difficult to envisage five years ago. While not necessarily a new concept, the running of unified, automated risk assessment that combines every data point from a given sporting event has become easier to achieve thanks to modern-day advances in parallel and cloud computing. The detailed profiling of customer types leads to the building of complementary marketing plans, with the delivery of tailored bonuses and promotions now able to be triggered by a host of specific behaviours.

When it comes to the betting offer put in front of the customer, recent data improvements have had a positive impact.

The sophistication of data collection has allowed for improvements in odds modelling and the creation of cutting-edge derived and proposition betting markets such as time range, player or micro markets. Respective examples include a yes/no market on a corner being won in a particular section of a football match, over/under on LeBron James blocks in basketball and a field goal being made or missed in NFL. It has also led to a reduction in time delays for live betting. This is particularly the case in American football and football, where the position of the ball has a strong correlation to the likelihood of a particular team scoring in a defined time.

Computer vision – which can automatically recognise events as they occur – is increasingly playing a wider role in gathering more data than ever before, allowing bookmakers to offer better odds, at faster speeds and with lower margins, to the benefit of customers.

HOW MUCH MORE IMPORTANT IS SPORTS BETTING DATA NOW THAN FIVE YEARS AGO? Finally, but perhaps most importantly, data analytics is also playing a leading role within responsible gaming initiatives. With gambling regulators in established markets increasing the pressure on the industry to provide more stringent player protections in recent years, large-scale data has been supplied by operators to researchers to ascertain the effectiveness of tools such as voluntary spending limits and personal messaging.

As we head into 2022, data-driven technology will continue to drive growth and innovation, however I also expect developments in data analytics will continue to better identify the most vulnerable customers for the benefit of all stakeholders and the industry’s reputation, but only if we all push towards the same, common, sustainable goal.

Malte Hegeler leads the product development for EveryMatrix across all its sports products. Having a deep understanding of bookmakers’ needs, thanks to his 10+ years of experience in trading and sportsbook development, Malte is a key contributor to the recent revamp of OddsMatrix’s front-end and back-end capabilities, as well as the launch of the Esports Services in 2019. At the end of 2021, Malte Hegeler assumed the role of OddsMatrix CEO.

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ROUNDTABLE

ROUNDTABLE: THE RISE OF AGGREGATION Industry leaders from Softswiss, Pariplay and Relax Gaming discuss the prosperity of online casino aggregation, and the pros and cons of this increasingly popular business model Enrico Bradamante, Chief Commercial Officer at Pariplay

Simon Hammon, Relax Gaming Chief Product Officer

Andrey Starovoitov – COO at Softswiss

HOW MUCH HAS ONLINE CASINO AGGREGATION INCREASED OVER THE YEARS - AND WHY

SIMON HAMMON:

Slot distribution has become more competitive, which is hardly surprising considering the number of suppliers has grown significantly. New releases require extensive distribution to get the best return on investment, and aggregators are well-positioned to distribute to multiple operators quickly.

ENRICO BRADAMANTE:

Online casino aggregation has increased more than the overall casino business in the last years, due to the multiplication of suppliers and content.

Many new innovative games studios have been founded and grown while, with the opening and expansion of new markets, a lot of localised content has been developed. Because there are so many games studios and varieties, it is currently impossible for an operator to have a direct integration with all the studios.

Aggregators have more room to specialise in delivering faster, more flexible integration services with the latest technologies, providing value to both providers and operators. This has been one of our biggest focuses at Pariplay, to be a major technical solution finder, to solve all the technical requirements of our partners, no matter the challenges or legacy of their platform, and help them accelerate their growth.

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ANDREY STAROVOITOV:

It has increased quite a lot. While trends towards direct integrations or getting content through aggregators change periodically, there has been a steady increase in clients using the Softswiss Game Aggregator’s content.

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WHAT ARE THE PROS OF THIS BUSINESS MODEL ANDREY STAROVOITOV:

ENRICO BRADAMANTE:

For new studios, the biggest pros come from the value distribution channel. For operators, it is great to have all kinds of innovative content faster than ever for all their target markets. When operators are entering or expanding in a new jurisdiction, in order to succeed they need to integrate content with local appeal, deep knowledge about that market, and to make sure that all their games are certified there.

In addition, regulation is expensive.

The fact that companies can level our certification to launch on regulated markets is a big value that we offer as an aggregator.

It’s one thing to get game content from a variety of studios and another to get it from the game providers directly. Often casinos want to dive into operations and marketing. A games aggregator allows you to focus on these aspects and not bother supporting multiple integrations and a gigantic game portfolio on your own. Maintaining such a large gaming infrastructure often requires serious technical expertise and an understanding of target markets.

This very often requires having several teams, which does not always fit into the operator’s plans and budget. I am convinced that aggregation holds an advantage over direct integrations. The volumes of information flowing through the aggregator are just as valuable as the game content. In this case the aggregator doesn’t just resell content but acts as a stand-alone product and business unit. It brings added value through a wider network of casino data. At the same time it features key marketing tools such as jackpot and tournament systems. There is no doubt that the aggregator is an integral part of the iGaming market, acting as a separate product between the providers and the operator.

SIMON HAMMON:

For the aggregator, it’s a numbers game supporting multiple studios that may or may not succeed, but it offers them a chance to prove their product works. It also provides an additional revenue stream alongside any proprietary content.

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AND WHAT ARE THE CONS OF THIS BUSINESS MODEL

ENRICO BRADAMANTE:

Since there are several aggregation services, most operators don’t rely on only one to access new content, so for Pariplay it is important to keep upgrading our offer continually, making sure that we deliver more content, more services, and more value each month. For small, new studios, it is not necessarily a con, I would say it is more part of entrepreneurial risks, only a few of them will actually succeed and generate revenue for operators and aggregators.

ANDREY STAROVOITOV:

SIMON HAMMON:

There are costs associated with using an aggregator; however: this is offset by the speed in which content is made available especially when using the right partner, such as Relax Apex™, which can harmonise the entire approach to distribution.

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Game aggregation and game content distribution is one of the most competitive parts of the online gambling industry. The market is mobile and in a constant search for the best offer. For this reason, the price factor is crucial for customer retention. We are seeing an imbalance in the market in terms of price. Prices for the B2B segment can differ slightly or even be cheaper than for standalone operators. The lack of understanding among game studios in the need to form and maintain pricing policies for games will inevitably lead to a decrease in the game provider’s profit margins.

Today, game aggregators are already competing for customers with game producers/studios, as many providers are trying to sway the operator towards a direct integration. All this makes it necessary to rethink the game aggregator business model and to compete based on non-price factors such as exclusive service, professional competencies and product features.

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ROUNDTABLE

ENRICO BRADAMANTE:

CAN AGGREGATION BECOME AS POPULAR IN THE US AS IT IS IN EUROPE

Yes. Even when Europe is very different and more heterogeneous than the US in the cultural aspect, each state has its own set of rules. Different states have been regulating iGaming at different times, and the licences required to operate are not the same.

Mainly because of this peculiarity in the US legislation, the aggregation business model is effective there for all the parts of the chain.

Also, local US companies have a long legacy of operating for land-based casino. Working with traditionally land-based studios to make their content available online is another big asset to be competitive in such a dynamic new market.

SIMON HAMMON:

ANDREY STAROVOITOV:

Right now it is quite difficult to determine whether the aggregator business model will be viable in the US market. This is largely because individual regulation in each state is not a favourable environment for such a business model to develop. The success of the gaming aggregator model in Europe is mainly ensured by the availability of licences, such as the MGA, as well as a unified approach in terms of aggregator requirements from various European regulators.

Only time will show the prospects for the US.

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Heavy investment is required to enter the US market, and aggregators can help manage the right relationships, making entry less painful. In my view aggregation can become just as popular, as aggregators can offer crucial compliance and commercial support, allowing studios to focus on building games and reducing costs.

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LEE RICHARDSON

MARKET MANIA; BULL, BEAR OR BUBBLE? Lee Richardson MBA, CEO of Gaming Economics and Co-Founder of The Big Betting Balagan, believes valuations will only go in one direction during 2022 Warren Buffet once said “…never invest in a business you cannot understand…"

Having famously steered clear of the technology sector when choosing his investments, one wonders what he would make of our sector, especially during the past year or so.

One of the most dynamic industry themes of the last 12 months, or more, has been the market performance of those listed entities exposed to the online betting and gaming sectors in both the US and Europe and, in particular, New York and London.

An inventory of the world’s largest listed gambling stocks, published late last year, showed the top five US-based gambling stocks had a combined market cap of around $88bn. By contrast, the value of the five leading European-listed gambling stocks was around $75bn.

To put all of that into context, their combined value (that’s 10 industry giants, collectively worth $163bn) was just over half the market capitalisation value of Netflix….

Tellingly, while none of the leading US stocks have any material interests in Europe, all the European operators have commercial exposure to the US. A clear case of “Go West, young man” in a post-PASPA world, surely.

That expansion has certainly been boosted by the ‘regulatory-drag’ factor, and associated uncertainty, in ‘home’ markets such as the UK, Italy and Germany.

The resultant dynamism of that US market cap measure has been dramatic in the past two years or so, for a whole variety of reasons, but so much more than ‘just a pandemic’. Indeed, terms such as ‘over-blown’, ‘over-hyped’ and ‘over-valued’ have been levelled at the US sector, often with validity.

Interest in the US sector has clearly been boosted – as have some valuations – by the creation of Special Purpose Acquisition Companies (SPACs), a sector mechanism rarely noted pre-PASPA. According to Sportico, we’ve seen more than two dozen SPACs created to focus on the gambling sector. Some of these appear, to this observer at least, purely speculative vehicles searching for unspecified

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Lee Richardson opportunities in a fast-developing – and highly demanding – landscape.

Have we already seen some less-than -well-informed investors step in? Probably.

Are there enough proven, industry -experienced and in-market leaders, managers and staff to service this new demand? Certainly not.

Market volatility is another reality; Wagers.com Earnings + More, an industry results newsletter, reported all of the following on just one day late last year; GAN down 29% in a single month, with Genius Sports similarly down 24% (and down 60% on its float price); Gambling.com was down 16% in a week, with DraftKings down 11%, Penn National Gaming down 10%, as was Caesars, all over the same period. Gaming Economics calculated these collective ‘losses’ to total more than $5.9bn. Ouch.

In early December, a spat played out on CNBC between short-seller Jim Chanos and DraftKings CEO Jason Robins, who rejected Chanos’ charge that the economics of its business was “complete (sic) and totally insane”. Double ouch.

None of this comes as a surprise to new FanDuel CEO Amy Howe, who told the Financial Times in October last year that

the battle to seize market share is not sustainable and will lead to the failure of some operators. “There are too many competitors right now to sustain this level of spend,” she said. FanDuel is owned by Dublin-based, London-listed Flutter Entertainment, which has spent more than $1bn in marketing since 2018, to gain its market-leading position.

This sentiment is shared by industry suppliers, too, as Hessi Mocca, the new head of IR at Nordic-listed Gaming Innovation Group (GiG) recently explained "…we didn’t look at the US market because we didn’t have the economic tools to buy anything in the US. But the honest truth is everyone is buying into the US at high multiples and forgetting the European market."

Another factor, perhaps underappreciated in the US, is the symbiotic, and highly positive, relationship between sports betting and iGaming.

In fact, US online iGaming revenue (GGR) surpassed online sports betting revenue in Q3 2021 ($938m v $886m), and was almost level on a 2021 YTD basis ($2.62bn v. $2.74bn).

Considering the significant disparity between the number of states that allow sports betting (28 and counting) and the handful of states that currently permit iGaming (just 4), Gaming Economics believes the scope for the latter vertical to expand considerably, from 2022 onwards, is obvious and – perhaps – imperfectly understood by the wider market.

Such imperfections always offer opportunities to the enlightened.

Such expansion would more likely benefit those listed operators and suppliers already highly experienced with iGaming. From overseas experience gleaned, over two decades, the likes of Entain, Flutter Entertainment and soon-to-be-acquired Playtech all immediately spring to mind. Privately owned behemoth bet365 is also quietly stalking the US market.

Might 2022 be the year that iGaming starts to get the proper US profile it deserves, with valuations better reflecting the benefits of delivering both to informed, and satisfied, consumers? This industry investor certainly thinks so.

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JOERG HOFMANN

GERMANY: THE STATE OF PLAY Dr Joerg Hofmann, of Melchers Law, writes his first of many guest articles for Gambling Insider, running through the state of play and outlook for gambling regulation in Germany The year 2021 was the year of significant changes in Germany’s gambling regulation.

The Interstate Treaty on Gambling 2021 came into force on 1 July 2021. For the first time, it established a nationwide licensing procedure for virtual slot machine games and online poker, in addition to the licensing for sports betting that has been available since January 2020. At the same time, a central regulatory responsibility was created for these two verticals with effect from 1 January 2023.

Until the granting of licences to operators of virtual slot machine games and online poker, a transitional regime applies that exempts them from enforcement if certain requirements are met; and generally gives them a positive reliability assessment.These requirements were laid down on 30 September 2021 in the Joint Guidelines of the

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Supreme Gaming Supervisory Authorities of the Laender and required a far-reaching adaptation of online gambling services to the conditions of the future licence.

All this sounds positive. And at first it is, considering that at least the ban on online gambling that was in place for many years has been replaced by licensing models.

So, the fact that the regulated gambling market has now been launched is most definitely a positive. In detail, however, this regulation contains a multitude of challenges that the future German licensed online gambling industry will not be able to cope with.

One of the most important goals of gambling regulation – besides the protection of players

– is the channelling of the market away from non-regulated operators towards state-licensed and supervised operators. And exactly in this respect, the state has overstepped the mark.

The goal is not being achieved. Channelling is taking place, but in the wrong direction.

Already under the transitional regime, operators who consistently adapted their offers to the new requirements had to experience massive migration of their main players. With the introduction of the 5.3% tax rate on all gaming stakes (net: 5.01%), which applies from 1 July 2021, most operators of virtual slot machine games were also forced to significantly reduce their pay-out ratios in order to avoid losses. Thus, they have finally lost their competitiveness compared to the numerous black-market offers. Operators continuing to offer significantly more attractive conditions for the player without observing the Interstate Treaty regulation are drawing them away from the regulated market like magnets. From a number of conversations with software suppliers having an exact overview of the turnover of the B2C providers using their games, this author anticipates a decrease of about 70 to 90%, compared to figures before the adjustment of the offers.

This does not mean that fewer stakes are being placed. Rather, it shows that these stakes no longer remain in the market supervised by the authorities.

The winners in this situation – and this is paradoxical – are clearly the black-market operators, especially, but not only, those from countries outside the EU. There, blatant increases in turnover are reported.

For the important, or even the most important regulatory goal of channelling, this is equivalent to a declaration of bankruptcy.

Because without a functioning channelling system, there can

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be no player protection. Nor can there be protection against fraud and manipulation or money laundering, to name just a few other regulatory goals. Only the player who plays in the licensed and supervised market can be protected. If he places his stakes in the black market, the highly developed protection instruments of the German gambling supervision do not reach him. Thus, the update of the Interstate Treaty on Gambling, which was first enacted in 2008 and has been developed with great difficulty over many years, achieves the opposite of what it was intended to do.

WHAT RESTRICTIONS ARE WE TALKING ABOUT? Some examples: In virtual slot machine gaming, five seconds minimum playing time per spin is mandatory.

The worldwide standard is about three seconds.

The maximum stake per game is limited to €1.00. Monthly deposit limits of €1,000.00 per player do not allow individual exemptions before 2023.

Bonuses and rebates are only permitted to a marginal extent. If the authorities’ current approach is maintained, the limit will be €100.00 per player per year in total.

Severe restrictions also apply to affiliate marketing. Remuneration based on turnover or success is not permissible.

The use of the terms “casino” or “casino games” is not permitted in connection with the organisation and self-distribution of virtual slot machine games or the advertising thereof.

Table games such as roulette, baccarat and blackjack as well as their live stream are excluded from the licence for virtual slot machine games. The Laender can decide individually whether they want to have these games offered on their respective territories by a state-owned company (monopoly) or by private operators through a strictly limited number of licences. Before the first licences are issued, it will be months. Until then, these games can only be accessed on the black market. The online operators willing to comply had to remove these games from their offerings.

For sports betting, the scope of bets that will ultimately be permissible is still not certain. To date, the authorities have not presented their announced catalogue of permissible bet categories and bet types. In particular live bets as well as bets on e-sports need to be clarified.

A deviation from the monthly deposit limit for sports betting can be approved upon request by the Regional Council of Darmstadt up to €30,000.00 per player per month. A deviation beyond this, adapted to the individual needs and financial resources of the players, is currently not envisaged. However, the deposit limit conditions contained in the licences are currently suspended in most

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cases, as they are the subject of a review by the administrative courts in Hesse.

None of the restrictions mentioned are observed in the black market. It is obvious what competitive advantage the operators that operate there enjoy.

WHAT CAN BE DONE TO END THE MISERY? Something can be done, but time is running out. The current Interstate Treaty on Gambling even indicates what the first step must be.

Its sec. 32 provides for an evaluation of the effects of this Interstate Treaty, explicitly even referring to the development and spread of illegal gambling in black markets. According to this, the gambling supervisory authorities of the Laender are to carry out the evaluation in cooperation with the Joint Gambling Authority of the Laender and its expert advisory board. An interim report is to be submitted by 31 December 2023. A summary report is to be submitted by 31 December 2026 and every five years thereafter.

However, this would be far too late. This timetable does not allow the necessary consequences to be drawn in time, let alone implemented. A first evaluation would have to take place in 2022. It must be based on the decisive indicator for the success of a regulation, namely the turnover in the regulated market versus the turnover from outside it. This is easier said than done.

Turnover of licensed providers can be recorded directly by the authorities.

However, these figures are not sufficiently meaningful if they are isolated from the turnover outside the regulated market. But how to get hold of the uncontrolled turnover?

No black-market operator will voluntarily participate in a survey. Estimates are always vague. At best, a survey of the current figures and their comparison with the data that can be ascertained in the supplier market as of September 2021 will help. Such a comparison at least provides very realistic information about the dimension of the exodus of players and turnover away from Germany.

The fact that lost players can be won back through evaluation with subsequent consistent adjustment of the regulatory framework is shown by the example of Italy. There, too, the channelling rate was far below expectations in the first years.

Only after an adjustment of the regulation more tailored to the needs of the players did thousands of players who had previously “left the country” return to the regulated market and significantly increased the revenues of licensed operators in a very short time.

Other countries, most notably Denmark, from the beginning had hardly any losses of existing players to the black market due to market-oriented regulation of gambling offers

Joerg Hofmann and their taxation.

Content and taxation, these are the key words in connection with the success of channelling. That is what it will have to be about.

WHAT ELSE DOES THE FUTURE HOLD? Already known changes concern the competence of the regulatory authorities.

This will be completely restructured. As of 1 January 2023, a unique “super authority”, the “Joint Gambling Supervisory Authority”, also based in Saxony-Anhalt, is to take over gambling supervision nationwide. It will then be responsible for sports betting, virtual slot machine games and online poker. The Regional Council of Darmstadt and the State Administration Office in Halle will formally lose their nationwide competences in these areas. Until then, however, Darmstadt will still be responsible for renewing and issuing new sports betting licences in the course of 2022.

There is another interesting change ahead, whose importance should not be underestimated. As of 1 January 2023, a Board of Directors replaces the Gambling Committee. Each state will send its own representative. Representatives can be heads of state or secretaries of state of the ministry responsible for gaming supervision. This means that, unlike in the past, this body, which is to be decisively involved in important decisions, will be made up mainly of political representatives instead of regulators. This now more political approach gives hope that from 2023 onwards the decision-making processes can be adapted more flexibly/ to actual developments. Politicians bear the responsibility for the regulation of the gambling market, its success and failure.

It is in their hands to continue the good and to correct wrong decisions.

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INDUSLAW

CASUAL GAMING IS SERIOUS BUSINESS IN INDIA Ranjana Adhikari (Partner) and Sarthak Doshi (Associate) at IndusLaw People love to game – be it during the commute, an office lunch break, while waiting for an appointment, or your typical Friday game night. The excitement and glee games bring to people is unparalleled. In India, the story is no different. Over the past few years, as the interest and engagement towards gaming scaled, so have the numbers and market projections.

The numbers in India are pretty impressive too. The Indian gaming market is reportedly valued at $1bn, gathers INR 13bn in revenues annually, has 433 million users, over 400 start-ups, and a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 18.6%.The gaming industry as a whole attracted over $540m of investments between August 2020-January 2021 alone.

The sentiment is pretty much the same when you look at what industrialists, investors, politicians, and other stakeholders are saying.

For instance, Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently said that India should take a lead in the digital gaming market and develop games based on its culture and folklore. India’s business tycoon Mukesh Ambani went even further and remarked that gaming will soon be bigger than the music, television, and film industries put together.

These are all testaments to how well the Indian market has matured. And rightly so. Today, India is (arguably) amongst the most unique gaming markets – largely because of the variety of games on offer and the diversity of users that play them.

Fantasy sports have got the attention of sports enthusiasts, esports are the pick for the Gen-Z and young adults, whereas card games (like poker and rummy) see interest across age groups. During all this, the casual gaming industry in India has significantly picked up in recent years which, thanks to a growing user base and a little help from the pandemic, is

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poised to generate revenues of INR 169bn by itself by 2025.

THE RISE OF CASUAL GAMES IN INDIA Availability of cheap internet and affordable smartphones is a key driver for the growth of casual games in India. Reports indicate that India will have over 900 million mobile users by 2023. Out of 420 million casual gamers in India, 94% play on mobile devices. More than 43% of mobile users engage with at least one casual game (as per the report Unpacking a Billion Dollar Industry: Digital Games and Sports in India by IAMAI – 2021).

"In India, casual games provided the much-required active cognitive engagement everyone craved" The casual gaming market is also earning noteworthy revenues for gaming companies.

Companies earn an average revenue per user (“ARPU”) of INR 152 in 2021, which is poised to grow to INR 268 by 2025 (as per the report, Beyond the tipping point: A primer on casual gaming in India by KPMG, 2021).

Investments in this sector are also on the rise.

Companies having casual gaming in their repertoire have been attracting substantial investments. WinZO, a casual gaming

application focusing on regional content, raised $65m recently. Another company, Nazara Technologies, that has a presence in over 64 countries across Asia, Africa, and Middle East, also became the first casual gaming company to release its IPO in March 2021.

THE IMPACT OF COVID-19 The impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on mental health is well known to the world.

In India, as with the world over, casual games provided the much-required active cognitive engagement everyone craved. Apart from being a recreational tool, casual games helped people overcome loneliness, stay connected with friends and family, and divert attention from the pandemic.

Reports suggest that since the pandemic, time spent by users playing casual games has increased by 14% and an average Indian now plays over 8.5 hours per week. 36% of gamers consider communication a crucial part of gaming, whereas 53% users said that they made new friends in the past year through gaming.

MONETISATION MODELS Casual games are offered in India through a variety of monetisation models, depending on the nature of game, the target audience, and the platforms available for their distribution.

Here are some of the most popular models thriving in India.

Advertisements: This model is most popular for free-to-play games, where the user is offered the game for free, and the publisher earns revenue by displaying advertisements. A variety of ads are used to monetise such game like banner, native, interstitial, reward, playable ads, etc. In 2020, advertisement revenues from casual games stood at INR 3600 crore viz., 60% of all casual gaming revenue. This is

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expected to grow to INR 9900 crore at a CAGR of 29% by 2025 (as per the report, Beyond the tipping point: A primer on casual gaming in India by KPMG, 2021).

Casual games like Ludo King and Ultimate Teen Patti follow this model.

In-app purchases: This model is popular among free and freemium games. Here, users are offered the game for free, but publishers make money by selling virtual goods in the game such as access to new maps, in-game currency, battle pass, ad-free experience, power ups, costumes, and other aesthetic additions to their game play. Reports indicate that in-app purchases for games downloaded from Google Play Store and Apple Store in 2020 grew by 51% and 30% respectively (as per the report The State of Mobile Gaming 2021: An Analysis of Mobile Gaming Market Trends and Top Titles in the US, Europe, and Asia by Sensor Tower). Casual games like Candy Crush Saga, Lords Mobile, and Subway Surfers follow this model.

Commission fee: Most real-money games (RMGs) are based on this model.

Users pay an entry fee to participate in a casual gaming contest with other users on the platform to win cash or other prizes.

The game publisher typically charges 15-25% of this entry fee as a commission, whereas the rest of the pooled amount is distributed among the winning users (as per the report. The evolving landscape of sports gaming in India by KPMG and FIFS - 2019).

Casual games offered on applications like WinZO and Mobile Premier League follow this model.

Direct purchases: The game publisher demands a one-time fee from the user which enables the user to download and play the game. Casual games such as Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, Hitman Sniper, and Minecraft are some of the games that follow this model.

predominantly depends on the user’s skill as opposed to chance. Few games recognised

by Indian courts as ‘games of skill’ are rummy, poker, fantasy sports, carrom, chess, bow and arrow, and darts. The majority of Indian states have a ‘game of skill’ carve out in their gambling law, and operators can offer these games freely as a fundamental right under the Indian Constitution.

On the other hand, some states like Telangana, Karnataka, and Andhra Pradesh do not carve out ‘games of skill’ from their gambling law. All games played with money are considered ‘gambling’ in these states, and hence only free-to-play games are permitted.

It is worth noting that the law in Telangana, Karnataka, and Andhra Pradesh is currently under challenge. A similar challenge to the neighbouring state of Tamil Nadu was recently upheld (in August 2021) by the Madras High Court in Junglee Games India

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Private Limited v. State of Tamil Nadu, W.P. No. 18022 of 2020, which removed the ban on RMG games based on skill.

Finally, there are three Indian states (Nagaland, Sikkim, and Meghalaya) that require a game operator to procure a licence from the state government in order to offer RMG games in the state.

LAWS APPLICABLE TO ADVERTISEMENTS All advertisements in India are subject to the Consumer Protection Act 2019 and need to ensure that claims made through such advertisements are not misleading, unfair, false, or conceal important information about the product. In addition, advertisements run on television need to adhere to the guidelines of the Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) under the Cable Television Networks (Regulation)

REGULATORY FRAMEWORK India does not have a dedicated law for ‘casual games’ currently. Regulations vary depending on the content used, advertisements displayed, and monetisation model adopted by the game.

GAMING ENACTMENTS The Indian Constitution empowers each state to make its own law on ‘gambling and betting’. While some states have created their own unique laws, others have principally adopted the Public Gambling Act 1867 (a pre-independence legislation) in their jurisdiction. Overall, with a few exceptions (discussed below), ‘games of skill’ are considered outside the purview of any gambling and betting law in a state.

‘Games of skill’ are games where success

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Act 1995. Lastly, specifically for RMG games, the Guidelines on Online Gaming issued by ASCI in 2020 need to be followed.

up for talent creation and fostering entrepreneurship in this sector.

• Karnataka: The Animation Visual Effects Gaming & Comics Policy 2017-2022 focuses on upskilling and creating a talent pool of designers, illustrators, animators, and game developers. A Centre of Excellence, a Finishing School, and a Digital Post-Production Lab for the AVGC sector is also part of the policy.

Registered AVGC companies are eligible for a 20% expenditure reimbursement.

The government has also emerged as an investor in the sector, with the creation of the INR 20 crore fund for the AVGC sector.

• Andhra Pradesh: The Gaming, Animation, Media, and Entertainment Policy 2014-2019 policy aims to create a 7,00,000 square feet ‘Andhra Pradesh Game City’ with world-class infrastructure that will serve as an epicentre of research and development in the AVGC sector.

LAWS APPLICABLE TO CONTENT Content regulations in India are spread across several laws such as the Indian Penal Code 1860, the Indecent Representation of Women (Prohibition) Act 1986, and the Prevention of Children Against Sexual Offences Act 2012 among others. The application of these laws depends on the nature of content in question. Overall, the content displayed in a game should not be explicit, sexual, obscene, hurtful, defamatory, racial, or derogatory to a caste or religion. Depiction of the national flag or national emblem in an improper manner is also a penal offence. Whether a particular content violates Indian laws is subjective and adjudged by courts on a case-to-case basis.

LAWS APPLICABLE TO THE USE OF E-WALLETS Most games that run on commission fees or include IAPs, offer e-wallets to users. These e-wallets are used to upload money (from bank accounts or similar sources) to the gaming application for subsequent use in the game. The Master Directions on Prepaid Instruments issued by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) are applicable in this regard. While ‘closed wallets’ i.e., e-wallets issued and used solely vis-à-vis the issuer of the e-wallet, are exempted from following these directions, other e-wallets that enable the user to transact with third parties (other than the issuer of the e-wallet) need to take an RBI licence and follow the specific conditions regarding the e-wallet’s use.

POLICY OUTLOOK Policies in India towards gaming are still to settle, both at the central and state government level. While states have dedicated gaming policies, the central government is seeing gaming as a key enabler for other economic sectors. There have certainly been some positive policies and developments too.

Below are some key initiatives that the Indian government has taken to promote the gaming industry.

APP INNOVATION CHALLENGE The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology has organised the App Innovation Challenge in 2020 and 2021 to identify the best Indian applications across several categories including gaming. The top three applications receive monetary award from the government, on top of receiving mentorship from government agencies.

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Ranjana Adhikari

NATIONAL EDUCATION POLICY 2020 It aims to improve the educational framework in elementary and university education across India. It focuses on all levels of primary and

"The Indian market has grown significantly over the past few years.

Users in India have shown an appetite for quality casual games" The program highlights the interest of the Indian government on gaming applications and the emphasis on building home-grown applications. The 2020 edition of the challenge saw games like Hitwicket Superstars, World Cricket Championship 2, and ScarFall: The Royale Combat emerge as winners.

PROGRESSIVE STATE POLICIES ON GAMING • Telangana: The Information Technology, Media, Animation, Gaming and Entertainment Policy 2017 (IMAGE) aims to develop infrastructure and create employment opportunities in the animation, visual effects, gaming, and comics (AVGC) sector. A dedicated ‘IMAGE city’ in Hyderabad is proposed to be set up for providing designing, production, distribution, and marketing services for AVGC companies. Further, an AVGC Academy is also being set

secondary education and proposes to use applied games to boost literacy, and teach courses through adaptive assessments and personalized learning THE ROAD AHEAD The Indian market has grown significantly over the past few years. Users in India have shown an appetite for quality casual games, as reflected in the growing ARPU companies are earning per user. Significant funding received by gaming companies and casual gaming operators coming up with IPOs is also a positive sign. With the government showing keen interest towards the sector, the market will soon become more lucrative for both domestic and foreign operators.

Perhaps what India currently lacks is a robust infrastructure and talent pool to develop games. But given the traction the sector is getting; we are hopeful that the industry and its stakeholders will soon fill this gap.

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IGAMING

IGAMING M&A GAINS MOMENTUM As more businesses look towards benefiting from the explosive growth of iGaming M&A, the role of the M&A consultant has never been more important to navigate the complexities of the industry. Chris Vella, Co-Founder & MD of Exacta Solutions, tells us more A flurry of momentous M&A announcements has dominated the headlines in the last few months. In a deal worth £2.2bn, 888 Holdings agreed to buy William Hill’s European business from its US owner. Spanish firm Nasdaq welcomed Codere Online via a merger with Mexico-based DD3, which sees the company listed in North America for the first time. News also broke that Games Global concluded deals to acquire Microgaming’s Quickfire distribution business in addition to their showing significant interest in several iGaming studio businesses.

“It’s understandable that business owners want to be heavily involved in the process” IGaming M&A activity is at such an all-time high that earlier this year InvestGame reported that Q1 of 2021 saw games acquisitions and public offerings on track to generate a record $39bn of value across 280 announced transactions. To put that in perspective, 2020’s total of 664 gaming deals only generated $33bn.

And the M&A trend doesn’t appear to be slowing down. Some industry insiders are even predicting that the landscape is evolving at such a pace that there will only be six large operators in the end. Whether that’s the case remains to be seen. But what’s certainly true is that industry giants are gaining more of a

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foothold in more markets.

Of course, 2021 hasn’t been one unbroken string of M&A success stories, either.

Some promising and hugely consequential acquisitions turned south as interests cooled and agreements could not be reached. Just in October, it was announced that a £16.2bn takeover of Entain, the owner of Ladbrokes, by the US fantasy sports and gambling company DraftKings would not go ahead, after all.

Mergers and acquisitions involve a precarious process and there are a wide range of complex factors that can make or break a deal. That’s why more and more businesses are turning to

experienced M&A consultants to act on their behalf. Whether a company is looking to buy or sell, a professional consultant can advise clients on time-tested principles that will facilitate a smooth process and sidestep 11th-hour snags.

It’s understandable that business owners want to be heavily involved in the process.

It’s their business at the end of the day and they feel protective towards it. However, many business owners fail to appreciate just how time consuming and fraught with uncertainty the process can be. As such, it can force business owners to lose focus of their most valuable asset: their actual business.

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Chris Vella Ultimately, this is not only damaging to the business and brand itself but to any potential M&A agreements. A slump in operations or a sudden PR snafu is a definite red flag to investors.

Whatever stage in the M&A process, businesses can seek consultants to cover all bases. A professional M&A strategy can help clients with everything from forming clear documentation on the history, present status, and future prospects of companies to guiding

clients on due diligence processes to enter negotiations with transparency.

Professional M&A advisors follow the gaming market closely and have access to industry insights that might not be widely publicised. This means that they can offer investors detailed analysis, like-for-like catalogue scans, and snapshot reports to help them make decisions with confidence.

A professional consultant will already have carried out all the groundwork, from understanding the specialist lingo to having a thorough understanding of the market’s intricacies, and more. This enables consultants to hit the ground running on behalf of their clients to develop efficient and effective M&A strategies that are tailored to the specificities of that company, including various back-up and contingency plans. These types of asset catalogues and investor maps will enable buyers and sellers to pursue deals with reasonable expectations based on concrete metrics drawn from like-with-like scenarios.

There’s also the issue of acquiring quality leads. A reputable advisor will be able to open doors to conversations through their network of contacts built up over many years of operating within the industry. All in all, this forms the foundations for a structured and targeted M&A approach that avoids time-wasting and is more likely to result in an optimal deal for all parties involved.

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When approached with the right strategy and frame of mind, M&As open up a world of opportunities for buyers and sellers.

Through the process, companies may reach the conclusion that a merger or acquisition isn’t the right step for their company at the time. However, there is still value to be gained through the possibility of starting unique collaborations with industry partners.

By starting conversations, businesses may realise they have more to gain through different kinds of synergies and partnerships.

IGaming businesses seeking the services of M&A consultants can look out for a few tell-tale signs that will indicate whether that consultant is a good match for them.

Firstly, M&A consultants should be willing to share both their success stories as well as failed initiatives to give clients insight into the various pitfalls and obstacles that may stop a deal in its tracks. A reputable M&A advisor will also likely be in possession of a growing portfolio of anonymised assets and buy-side mandates. This will indicate whether the agency is primed for successful M&A negotiations at all levels within the industry.

As with most business relationships, selecting an M&A agency to represent your business boils down to trust. By starting conversations today and putting feelers out, a business will be better prepared to succeed with a merger or acquisition down the line.

“By starting conversations, businesses may realise they have more to gain through different kinds of synergies and partnerships”

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THE GAME DAY

THE NEW SCIENCE OF SOCIAL SPORTS BETTING The team at affiliate The Game Day explores the issue of social conversions for sports betting, and asks whether it can ever be an exact science

"Nearly 68% of affiliate marketers use social media to connect with customers"

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THE GAME DAY

As legal sports betting becomes more readily available, the competition amongst sportsbooks to acquire new users continues to heat up.

American sports bettors have wagered over $77bn since June 2018, according to Legal Sports Report, and with major states like New York coming soon, every sportsbook is diving in.

With more states successfully setting up online operations, the pool of new users continues to grow. The American Gaming Association estimates that 45.2 million Americans will wager on the NFL alone this season, a 36% increase from 2020.

One of the prevailing ways US-based sportsbooks have attracted new customers is through large-scale spending on traditional advertising. Online gambling companies spent $154m in the first quarter of 2021 on television ad spots, according to Nielsen, with FanDuel and DraftKings leading the way to combine for just over $100m of that total.

Other sportsbooks are relying on affiliate partnerships as a more cost-effective marketing strategy to break into the market. By teaming up with sports betting content companies and harnessing their outreach, sportsbooks can efficiently gain new customers.

In turn, these sports betting content companies are working to refine the science of mass audience conversion for sportsbook sign-ups – down to the exact minute a social post or video should be uploaded.

But can social conversions for sports betting ever be an exact science?

COMMON SPORTS BETTING SOCIAL MEDIA PRACTICES Sports betting remains a relatively new market in the United States, so its social media community only represents a segment of sports fans.

Unless a newly legalised state emerges, or a seismically viral win or upset loss owns the news cycle, sports betting topics probably won’t trend on social media. Instead, media companies must focus on expanding their brand into the broader world of sports and pop culture.

By live-tweeting sporting events, reacting to breaking news, and keeping up with viral moments, sports betting companies can tap into and learn about a wider audience, including their gambling aptitude.

“If you can dive into those conversations, you can then interject the voice of your brand within that digital space and gain the awareness to build a loyal community,” says Felipe Fontes, Senior Social Media Manager at The Game Day. “It also allows you to incorporate sports betting into general conversation, making it more digestible and accessible to the everyday fan.”

Sports media companies have an inherent advantage over sportsbooks in that regard: they

can more carefully walk the line between casual sports talk and betting-focused engagement.

Affiliate partnerships can also help bridge the gap for sportsbook operators that originated overseas, giving them a voice and an opportunity to compete in a brand-dominated market like the United States.

“Affiliate partnerships help us create brand awareness, drive acquisition, and frankly, they help us understand the markets we are operating in,” says Jason Dietz, Manager of Performance Marketing & Affiliates at Betfred US. “As an operator, we lean on our Affiliates to guide us. Affiliates have direct insight into key demographics, overall traffic volumes, and user behaviour that we desperately need as we grow acquisition for our brand.”

Affiliates also help by actively promoting their partner sportsbooks with techniques that include featuring their odds in written content; promoting lines in YouTube videos; creating reviews of the sportsbook; and highlighting promotional offers that build intrigue toward potential customers.

Social media often plays a large part in these partnerships as well. Nearly 68% of affiliate marketers use social media to connect with customers, according to Affstat’s 2016 Affiliate Marketing Benchmark Report.

THE SCIENCE OF SOCIAL CONVERSIONS While sports betting content companies will easily find ways to integrate sportsbook operators into their social media campaigns, the integral challenge remains converting that social audience into active bettors.

While the average American spends over two hours per day on social media, according to a 2021 Statista report, the redirection of a user’s attention away from their feed takes strong messaging.

It takes a combination of attributes for a social media post to successfully divert someone onto a sportsbook’s website and convert them into a first-time sportsbook depositor.

First, posts must be properly tailored to their audience, an especially important factor when it comes to the type of content and the language used in posts. Both must be optimised for audiences that may differ across platforms from Instagram to TikTok, to Twitter to YouTube.

Social teams should also cast a large net.

Targeting users in legalised betting states is certainly a viable strategy, yet team or player-specific posts limit the potential extent of the social conversation.

Instead, a focus on broader, all-encompassing social posts is more likely to create engagement and the potential for further conversions.

These far-reaching posts also help normalise betting language, memes, and trends to the casual sports fan.

Timing also plays a factor in the

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discoverability, reach, and engagement of content. Certain social platforms garner more user engagement at various times during the day, but social teams can also take advantage of breaking news, like a trade or injury, with a well-timed and actionable post.

Those posts can also influence where the action is taking place. By dangling promotional offers from various sportsbooks, media companies can convince users to diversify their sports betting portfolio with various affiliates.

Figuring out how to maximise each of these qualities in each singular post is a challenge, one often faced head-on by an analytics department.

“Data is an incredibly important part of our content strategy,” says Nate Loucks, SVP of Content for The Game Day. “Our internal team tracks and analyses performance trends across all platforms. Based on trends gathered from these analytics, we are then able to pin down what we believe may lead to more success on a post.”

DATA, DATA, DATA While social media teams generally track performance metrics like organic impressions and engagement, they also analyse each post to see which stand out above the rest.

To maximise the potential of their affiliate partnerships, sports betting media companies need to know how posts that feature their partner sportsbooks fare, especially when betting odds and other actionable items are included.

To do so, analytics departments can research which posts are generating the most operator link clicks and, therefore, are most likely to result in conversions. From the trends in that information, you can build a more profitable content strategy.

While all of that data can help social teams improve their processes, it’s also important to learn as much as possible about your potential customers. Sports bettors notoriously skew heavily male, while 60% of active participants are in the 18-40 age range, according to a Kagan online consumer survey.

Targeting those demographics and capturing their data, whether it be emails, cell phone numbers, or social media profiles, goes a long way to successfully reaching them and eventually converting them into sportsbook customers.

While data certainly provides a roadmap to success, creativity and improvisation are the driving forces behind social conversions and effective social media practices.

At the end of the day, the most successful sportsbooks won’t necessarily be the loudest ones. They’ll understand the social conversation – and where that chatter will take place before it even happens.

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ENTAIN

ARE YOU EN(TER) TAIN-ED? Isabella Aslam attended the recent Entain Sustain conference, which showcased the launch of the operator’s new initiatives

Entain is one of the largest companies in gaming. With size comes responsibility, however. “All of us, nations, organisations and individuals should be thinking beyond self, working together to do all we can to sustain the wellbeing of the society – and the environment in which we live,” Ed Davis, Chair of the Entain Foundation, said at the event.

The Entain Foundation aims to promote positive change and sustainability within the operator’s business. The Foundation's focuses include, but are not limited to: responsible

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gambling, regulation research, sports integrity and education and treatment, grassroots women’s and disability sport, men’s health (with a large focus around mental health and mental wellbeing) and lastly, projects with a clear and concise link to the local community. Community being a preferred word of the company, here.

During Entain Sustain, new ideas were presented, such as the new ARC (Advance Responsibility and Care) scheme, based on Entain’s Changing for the Bettor programme.

ARC boasts a newly designed app dedicated

to player protection, with an implementation technique applying several checks on consumers at various thresholds in their gaming journey. When testing out the app for ourselves at the event, there was a range of different avenues based on a customer’s personal experiences, in which regular breaks were advised at different intervals.

The launch of EnTrain was also discussed, with the aim of supporting one million people through diversity and technology by 2030. The global commitment is comprised of four key pillars: The EnTrain Academy,

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ENTAIN

EnTrain Scholarships, EnTrain partnerships and EnTrain Apprenticeships. The basis of EnTrain is to provide opportunities for disadvantaged and under-represented communities across the UK, Europe, Australia and America.

The focus of the overall conference was the operator’s Social Impact Report, which compiles all demonstrations of its contribution to safer gambling and supporting such communities; all the while exploring the positive outcomes the company supports. The report showcases social impact, worldwide case study findings, and an approach to measuring and maximising social impact for future years. The company’s commitments offer a promise to invest over £100m ($134m) in its partner organisations, and continue to increase the proportion of GGY (gross gaming yield) donated towards the research, education and treatment of betting and gaming related harm to 1%.

Another focus surrounds safer betting and gambling delivery, and an increase in the number of women involved and working in tech-related subjects.

The Foundation supports a plethora of worldwide causes alongside charitable endeavours. Entain invests in grassroots sport through committed development programmes including its Pitching In initiative, an investment fund financially supporting English football league clubs following the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. The support commenced with a flagship partnership involving The Isthmian, Northern Premier and Southern Leagues.

Additionally, a multi-year strategic partnership with SportsAid supports aspiring athletes, helping 50 up-and-coming sportsmen and women. One beneficiary of the SportsAid partnership is Ruth Mwandumba. During a live panel named Supporting Sport in a Post-Pandemic World, the Britsh Shooting Pathway athlete spoke alongside panellists Nick Robinson (Trident Leagues), Leon Taylor (former diver and SportsAid alumni) and Danny Crates (Paralympian and world record-holder).

Mwandumba expressed her gratitude for The Entain Foundation.

“My sport is really expensive so it’s great to get that financial support, but it was a lot more than that for me,” she said.

“It wasn’t just about finances, we had access to workshops in mental wellbeing, in nutrition and things I would never have access to; but things I was so grateful for. Without that, I would be in a worse position because I was going through the mindset of being stuck and not knowing what to do.

“So it was good to have that support in a different way; the Zoom calls we were having were regular as well, it wasn’t like we had

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one workshop and we would never hear from anyone again. Every week there was something new and something for us to get involved with. Having that active contact all the time was a confidence boost; knowing that there are people who support you, support your journey, see you going far and want to do everything in this situation to help you, making sure you are not too affected by what’s going on, was great.”

Other programmes include the Entain Sports Integrity Forum, Professional Players Federation and Women’s Football Initiative with Inter Milan. Elsewhere, Entain assists Harvard Medical School, investing £5.5m in a five-year research project with the Division on Addiction at Cambridge Health Alliance.

It also focuses on the prevention of gambling-related harm to young people, by aiding GamCare with a project raising awareness among adolescents and professionals, surrounding the problems associated with gambling and the markers of harm.

"Some of Entain’s new partnerships focus on young women interested in building careers in technology" Other groups supported by Entain are YGAM (Young Gamers and Gamblers Education Trust), The Gordon Moody Association, Leon House Residential Rehabilitation Clinic, GambleAware, GamBan, Seton Hall Law School, EPIC Risk Management and NCPG (US National Council on Problem Gambling). In addition to investments in sport and education, Entain works closely alongside independent charitable organisations such as The Ladbrokes Coral Trust (LCT), Children with Cancer UK, Prostate Cancer UK, NHS Charities Together, Cancer Relief Gibraltar, and 52 Lives.

What interested Gambling Insider the most? Entain’s new partnerships with Girls Who Code and the Tech Girls Movement Foundation focus on providing support to young women interested in building careers in technology. During the Governance and Diversity virtual speech by Virginia McDowell, Entain NED and Chair of the

Board ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) Committee, there was a large focus on women in the industry, and women involved in tech-related subjects and employed in tech-related positions.

A study on the comparisons between men and women involved in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) subjects was brought to light, indicating that the gaming industry is still extremely male-dominated. “I felt it was time to encourage talented young women to consider us as a career choice. Entain shares that vision as a company; we are determined to support, inspire and influence the development of women in the gaming industry,” said McDowell.

She continued: “We added digital programming during the pandemic which has enabled us to reach women globally.

I firmly believe in the business argument for diversity and inclusion. A company that better reflects the societies in which it operates will perform better because it will understand its customer base better; responding positively to the expectations of all the communities and stakeholders it works with.”

Entain is one of the most significant partners of Girls Who Code, a non-profit organisation that works to close the gender gap in technology. The Entain Foundation will grant £250,000 to support the group’s global ventures in bringing young women from the UK, US, Canada and India into the more STEM industry subjects.

Alongside Girls Who Code is the Tech Girls Movement Foundation in Australia.

This specifically challenges the gender perceptions in STEM subjects. Entain’s research has shown that still, only 15% of those who work in such roles are women, compared to 85% being men. The Entain Foundation will grant £50,000 toward mentorship by women in such roles to young women looking for guidance on career choices.

Finally, we move back to the operator's aforementioned key word – community.

As Davis explained: “The overarching core value of Entain is ‘the right thing to do,’ a core value I believe can only be successfully sustained with a combination of public, non-profit and private sectors.”

The event was an exhibition of Entain’s values, its foundations, and the multitude of support and programmes it provides.

Since re-branding the group from GVC Holdings, the operator has reflected its ambition to be the world leader in sports betting and gaming entertainment.

However, given the importance of corporate social responsibility in the modern world, Entain has made equally clear the social issues that are important: sustainability, diversity and responsibility.

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AGILYSYS

CATERING TO EMERGING PATRON TRENDS Rohith Kori, Vice President of Corporate and Product Strategy at Agilysys, discusses the tech tools casinos need today Patron trends are shifting. Not only has Covid-19 and subsequent variants radically shifted how consumers travel, but younger generations are beginning to dominate the consumer landscape more than ever before — bringing a distinct set of expectations and needs to the forefront of the industry.

Casinos have long struggled with attracting younger generations to their properties. However, with the industry’s recovery top-of-mind for property operators, catering to Millennials and Gen-X consumers

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is critical to recovering lost revenue and coming out ahead of competing properties.

Read on to learn more about the trends emerging alongside today’s consumers, and the strategies casinos can employ to meet them.

EMERGING TRENDS Driven by technology and an on-demand culture, younger patrons prioritise convenience and instant gratification when

making purchases or engaging with a service, and the gaming industry is no exception. In fact, a survey of 1,500 US adults on preferences and expectations for digital experiences in the retail, travel & hospitality, media & entertainment and financial services industries found that younger consumers have much higher expectations for the services they

AGILYSYS

receive than ever before.

At the same time, younger generations have embraced self-service options more enthusiastically than any other age cohort. Nearly 30 percent of Gen Z customers say they’ve increased their usage of digital self-service as a result of the Covid-19 crisis, compared to 26 percent of Millennials, 20 percent of Gen Xers, and just 12 percent of Boomers.

In the same vein, less than 25 percent of Gen Z and Millennial consumers prefer face-to-face conversations with service associates, while nearly half of the Boomer population does.

Younger generations also spend their money much differently at casinos than their older counterparts do. Older audiences like Boomers and Gen Xers spend 80% of their casino money on gaming and 20% on food and entertainment, while younger audiences like Millennials spend only 30% of their casino money on gaming and 70% on food, entertainment and the newer non-gaming services emerging at properties. Within gaming spend itself, younger gamers are also increasingly interested in mobile and social gaming apps. With this in mind, what steps can casino operators take to meet these needs?

MEETING PATRON EXPECTATIONS The pandemic ushered in a widespread adaptation of touchless technology, such as mobile check-in and contactless POS systems, which offered property patrons a convenient, frictionless gaming experience.

But beyond employing these two vital services, casino operators can further utilise this technology to attract younger generations to their properties.

Equipping staff with POS tablets, for example, can streamline operations on the casino floor while offering an additional opportunity to boost non-gaming revenue streams.

As younger patrons increasingly prefer using their mobile devices over other internet-connected devices, ensuring that online booking and amenity reservation systems are designed with a seamless, user-friendly mobile interface can also ensure a

positive patron experience.

App-based gaming to attract mobile-first users. While releasing mobile casino apps is nothing new for major players in the industry, the convenience and ease of online gaming means it’s an increasingly crucial platformfor attracting convenience-driven patrons who value app-based gaming for its accessibility.

Additionally, mobile-based gaming offers operators a valuable opportunity to collect consumer data and better employ targeted marketing strategies, ensuring a higher ROI. Casinos collect more patron data than almost any other industry; however, not every property is fully leveraging its systems’ capabilities to improve operational and marketing efficiencies to the degree that younger patrons increasingly expect. Often, this failure arises when a property’s digital platforms are not fully integrated. By utilising industry-leading software, such as cutting-edge PMS and POS platforms, operators can better deliver personalised patron experiences, streamline operations, develop precise targeted marketing strategies and more.

As the industry continues to evolve, better catering to emerging patrons ultimately depends on a property’s ability to the ever-evolving technology that the younger population relies on. Casino operators with the right tools in place will be better prepared to better meet patron

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Rohith Kori

"Older audiences like Boomers and Gen Xers spend 80% of their casino money on gaming and 20% on food and entertainment, while younger audiences like Millennials spend only 30% of their casino money on gaming and 70% on food, entertainment and the newer non-gaming services emerging at properties" needs for convenient, mobile-oriented services than the properties that don’t take the tech plunge. With the ability to boost property sales, enhance operations and reach a wider audience, properties that capitalise on the technology available can ensure a successful road to recovery and beyond.

Mr. Rohith Kori is the Vice President of Corporate and Product Strategy at Agilysys, a technology company providing advanced software and services for property management, point of sale, kiosk, analytics, payment, and mobile solutions to the gaming and hospitality

industries. Mr Kori leads the product strategy teams, specialising in innovative solutions on multiple platforms, including the company’s Property Management, Point of Sale and Payment products. Working alongside the world’s most reputable gaming enterprises to ensure actionable innovation, successful deployments, staff training and optimal software utilisation, Mr Kori is an accomplished executive who brings more than 15 years of demonstrated technology expertise and leadership to the Agilysys team. He is a graduate of Harvard University with a Master’s degree in General Management and a graduate of Virginia Tech with a Masters degree in Industrial Engineering. In his spare time, Mr. Kori enjoys travelling and hiking with his wife.

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BETTING ON SPORTS EUROPE

EVENT REVIEW: BETTING ON SPORTS EUROPE Isabella Aslam was in attendance at Betting on Sports Europe, held at Stamford Bridge, reporting on discussions surrounding the future of the industry

The home of Chelsea Football Club hosted SBC’s Betting on Sports Europe conference from 10-11 November 2021. In the near-winter British weather, the sector gathered together to attend speeches and industry-led panels with global gaming business veterans.

Split between three main stages, the event was sliced into a trio of categories per day.

The first day included Leadership, Innovation & Operations, and a Payment Expert Forum.

The second day consisted of topics around the Future of Sports Betting, Marketing & Affiliation, and Betting Around Europe.

Four coffees were down by lunchtime; just to warm up, shivering in the open-top arena.

It was my quiet space to think, plus, the only place I could find a nearby plug socket to re-charge my phone, laptop and headphones.

What happened to battery longevity? This

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is 2021, and we still find ourselves hanging around extension leads, fiending for electricity to fuel our recording devices.

The need to be creative was one of the focuses in the Assessing Euro 2020 panel moderated by Marc Thomas, Propus Partners.

“There just didn’t feel like there was anything new in terms of innovation,” said Billy Cook, ComeOn Group Sportsbook Director, and one of the speakers in the discussion; alongside Marco Blume, Pinnacle Trading Director, William Woodhams, Fitzdares CEO, and Anthony Cousins, Head of Sportsbook Commercial & Control, Kindred Group.

Stealing myself away from main room one, I casually pass the UEFA Champions League trophy, on display for all to see, touch, or even hold. Not that I am by any means a Chelsea fan, but it was there...

Taking myself to various conferences, topics included Germany’s online gambling market, with German Lawyer, Dr Wulf Hambach, proclaiming “sports betting is fun and if you spoil the game, customers will have fun somewhere else.” Holland’s KOA regime, with Netherlands Online Gambling Association (NOGA) Managing Director Peter-Paul de Goeij, touched on the subject of advertising in gambling, stating: “From a regulatory perspective, it plays a vital role in channelling consumers toward the regulated offer.”

A discussion on the Italian gaming industry was held, with speakers Alessio Crisantemi, Marco Castaldo, Stefano Sbordoni and Carmelo Mazza. And lastly, the M&A in the Affiliate world panel spoke about how “fundamentally different” Asia is in comparison to Latin America, which is considered relatively straightforward.

Attendees’ bellies were full with overflowing complimentary croissants, tea and coffees throughout the day, situated at various stands across the stadium’s open floor plan. Lunch (on one side of the room) was an array of mac and cheese choices with artichoke salads and crispy wedges; all enclosed in a large brown box, which was a surprise to my colleague who opted for a cold mushroom wrap… the only thing he thought there was on offer.

So, to round up the event, a lot was learned about the industry and its involvement with and in the sports betting business. Betting on Sports Europe ended with a networking party held at The Natural History Museum, for all attendees to round up the two-day event with a chance to meet, reflect and be merry.

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ALEX CZAJKOWSKI

In every issue, Gambling Insider commissions guest columns and interviews with people at the heart of the gaming industry – to discover more about the challenges its leaders, pioneers and innovators face. These contributors form The Insiders

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BETTINA SOMMER Dimoco Carrier Billing

YOSSI BARZELY Pragmatic Play

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MIKAEL LIJTENSTEIN AstroPay

INSIDERS DAVID LITTLE

“Popular and playable games” Lightning Box’s Chief Product Officer, David Little, speaks on the company’s merger with Scientific Games as the industry enters an exciting 2022

"We have the independence and flexibility to keep creating our own unique content, which is really encouraging" FROM THE START OF THE PANDEMIC TO NOW, HAS LIGHTNING BOX MATCHED ITS POST-COVID EXPECTATIONS? I don’t know if we had any particular post-Covid expectations. Like everyone, we have had to adapt to working remotely from time to time and keep a creative team together in spirit when they are miles apart in reality. But I don’t think it altered too many of our plans, nor the online casino industry’s expectations. Markets have been opening up and online gaming has been fairly robust over the last few months, certainly compared to some industries which have really struggled.

DO YOU FEEL LIKE THE QUALITY OF LIGHTNING BOX’S PRODUCTS HAS IMPROVED SINCE: I) THE PANDEMIC? We’ve always tried to create a consistent level of quality in everything we do. I wouldn’t say that that has changed either way, which is a credit to the team who have had to adapt their working conditions. Perhaps it gave us a little more time to think and decide what

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we wanted to do going forward. It may well have been the inspiration behind the creation of some of our unique game features.

II) THE SG MERGER? I don’t think so, especially. We had a road map in place and have consistently delivered content before and after the merger.

The reason it came about was that Scientific Games liked what they saw and had the vision to say that it would be great for more people to enjoy our games via their network.

There was no desire to change what we did, nor any pressing concern that we needed to up the quality of our output. It has been a very smooth transition – and we’re doing what we’ve always done, which is: producing popular and very playable games.

AS AMERICA STEADILY BECOMES REGULATED ACROSS FURTHER STATES, HAS THE ACQUISITION BY SCIENTIFIC GAMES ALTERED OR CHANGED THE CONTENT YOU PROVIDE? We were providing content in the US long before the Scientific Games deal, be that in regulated online states, land-based casinos, or on the

popular social casino scene. In fact, long before Lightning Box was even founded, Peter Causley and I were creating games for US players.

Obviously, not that many states have regulated online casinos yet, but we’re hopeful that more will follow the likes of New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Michigan sooner rather than later. When they do, we will be well-placed not only because of our experience in the market but because of the increased distribution reach our partnership with Scientific Games gives us.

WHAT HAVE YOU FOUND TO BE THE BEST BENEFIT OF JOINING FORCES WITH SCIENTIFIC GAMES? Given their size and reach they obviously have the ability to open a lot of doors for us, particularly within their existing operator partnerships. There are obvious economies of scale to be had from working under a large umbrella organisation too, which we have been using to our advantage since the deal was announced. We have the independence and flexibility to keep creating our own unique content, which is really encouraging.

But we know it will now be enjoyed by players further and wider than we’d have been able to provide for when we were on our own.

WHAT IS THE FUTURE FOR LIGHTNING BOX NOW AND ARE THERE ANY BIG PLANS FOR 2022?

We have some exciting games in the pipeline and we’re looking forward to discussing those with clients at ICE in April. As fans of our games will have noticed, we’ve also been developing some exciting new features and mechanics. As well as creating unique new games, we will be giving some of our players’ favourites a makeover with these features.

It’s a really exciting time and, thanks to the Scientific Games partnership, I think we will have a far bigger presence in far more markets than ever before in 2022. Watch this space!

YOSSI BARZELY INSIDERS

Live casino, but different As we leave 2021 behind us, Gambling Insider speaks to Pragmatic Play’s Chief Business Development Officer, Yossi Barzely

"I think we might see things like instant games in a TikTok-style feed with a new theme in each game, maybe games will be related to current events or pop culture"

LOOKING INTO THE FUTURE, DO YOU SEE ANY SIGNIFICANT CHANGES HAPPENING IN THE INDUSTRY AS WE GO INTO 2022?

More than I can cover in one article, but I’ll try! I believe there will be a shift more towards the concept of entertaining players in ways that are separate from the base gameplay. The iGaming industry talks a lot about ‘playing’ but real play is something that brings enjoyment and fun. Maybe as an industry, we need to prioritise this again. Often a player’s success in a game is determined by their balance. Win or lose.

Profit or loss. It’s all rather binary.

I feel the iGaming space is going to see more of a shift towards creating the idea of fun and entertainment, much like how our compatriots in the sports betting industry succeed in doing so.

To do this, I believe we’ll see a lot of metagame features like tournaments, prize drops,

achievements, races etc. Essentially, things to keep players engaged and entertained but that exist outside of the realm of base play and their balance at the bottom of the screen.

YOU MENTIONED NEW GAMES; WHAT DO YOU SUPPOSE THESE WILL (EXCUSE THE PUN) BRING TO THE TABLE? To use the example of live casino, the majority of games still look and feel somewhat the same. Dealers dressed in black, red and green cloth tables. It all feels very ‘Vegas’ style. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, but I just feel there’s a big space for games that aren’t even related to the concept of a casino.

I believe in the not-too-distant future, players will still play and win money, but they won’t be traditional casino-style games. If you look at our release Sweet Bonanza CandyLand, which is the live

casino version of our iconic slot Sweet Bonanza, this is a representation of a break from tradition. The title presents a convergence of live casino with slots, and it’s unapologetically loud in its colour scheme of pinks, purples and yellows.

Essentially, it’s live casino, done differently.

I think we all have to remember: future customers mean younger generations. Ones that have grown up with completely different expectations for how they consume any and all sorts of content. A formal Live Casino setting might not cut it for this audience.

I think we might see things like instant games in a TikTok-style feed with a new theme in each game, maybe games will be related to current events or pop culture.

And maybe if Mark Zuckerberg is to be believed, we’ll all find ourselves in the Metaverse, which might mean the rise of things like virtual sports.

Like any big idea, there will always be an element of scepticism, as the safer choice is to stick to the fundamentals. But over time, these new ideas will filter into our society and become the norm, and it will have been the risk-takers who escape from the competition and reap the rewards. As ever, we pride ourselves on innovation and plan to be the leader in this new era of iGaming.

IS THERE ANY PARTICULAR NEW TECHNOLOGY PRAGMATIC PLAY IS WORKING ON THAT YOU SEE AS INTEGRAL FOR THE YEARS TO COME? Our Chroma solutions branding technology will be crucial. I believe generic live casino tables will be phased out with more bespoke experiences specific to operators. Operators invest time and money into building their brand, therefore it makes sense that it is visible during live casino play. We believe in delivering to operators, ‘Your Product – Your way’.

We give partners the ability to customise a table virtually, using 3D backgrounds and special effects that stay true to their brand. This includes a photorealistic background environment with still render or video animation, and options to incorporate a dedicated area for promotional communication.

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INSIDERS BETTINA SOMMER

Carrier billing: Safe and swift Bettina Sommer, Senior Vice President of Sales, Dimoco Carrier Billing GMBH, discusses the importance of mobile phones, digital apps and payment methods Fans watching live sports events, both mediated or in stadia, all have two things in common: they have a mobile phone in their pocket and do not want an interruption of a matchday or race experience. While the excitement and adrenaline rush is high, the focus is on one’s team, favourite horse or sportsman; and this is exactly why the average retention period of sports bettors on an operator’s website is only a couple of seconds, a tiny time slot in which a bet must be placed – and paid for.

Placing the bet should increase and ignite, not dampen the sensation. Forcing a player to enter details such as those of a credit card will obviously kill time and, therefore, most certainly will not lead to a conversion; instead, the payment process will be abandoned.

Vast marketing budgets are invested yearly by operators to encourage sports bettors to place spontaneous in-play bets; but often these budgets are wasted due to an unrealistic user experience on the operators’ page. Thus, 41% of players consider the ease of deposits to be one of the most important factors when deciding to try a new betting platform, and 21% of sports bets don’t convert if he checkout process is too long and complicated.

The same, of course, applies to other gambling sectors such as online casinos.

And this is where the mobile payment option carrier billing kicks in and scores – almost literally, if we consider football betting, for example.

Carrier billing merely requires the player to enter their mobile phone number to make a payment and identify themselves on the gambling operators page; this therefore contrasts with card-based and other payments, as no additional data must be added.

It outscores other payment options with an unparalleled penetration rate since almost everybody nearly always has a mobile phone at hand and a shorter checkout flow. The ability to make a deposit instantly on the spot makes carrier billing a cutting-edge solution, revolutionising operators' in-play bets

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through an optimised and optimal payment experience. Furthermore, as the player is identified with his unique mobile phone number, the payment and the identity check can be finalised in just one step.

LUCRATIVE MOBILE SPORTS BETTING Nearly 60% of all Europe’s online bets are expected to shift to mobile betting by 2025.

Increasingly, Europe’s gamers are looking to play on mobile and, more presciently, pay on mobile. When it comes to devices, mobiles are where consumers have the most trouble with using credit cards, more than 80% of abandonments happen on mobile devices, in no small part due to payments being a hassle to make. The obvious solution is of course adopting the mobile alternative payment method carrier billing.

IN-PLAY BETTING GROWS The payment option is already familiar to many users as it is applied widely for digital apps and content; such as online games, streaming and the download of music, digital subscriptions for e-books, magazines or movies. In addition to this are social media platforms, tickets for public transportation, parking tickets or even bike-sharing services, snack vending machines or electric vehicle charging.

What do these sectors have in common?

Impulse purchases are often key – just like in the iGaming sphere, and many industries and international brands have come to realise the value of the payment method.

Adopting carrier billing is a chance for operators to convert impulse betting intentions and gain reoccurring revenues.

Despite the strong tie with a mobile phone, carrier billing is compatible with tablets, desktop devices, Smart TVs and all popular software.

Online gambling operators cannot grow profitably and stand out from the competition if the entire purchasing process is not optimised for impulse payment and conversion. An average carrier billing deposit takes just a couple of seconds, and just like that, conversions are a totally different topic. We saw a 300% growth of usage of the payment method carrier billing by gamers over last year with our operator customers A confirmation that opting for this payment option is the right decision.

Dimoco Carrier Billing Dimoco, founded in 2000, is a European-wide regulated payment institute for Direct Carrier Billing and holds a payment service licence from the Austrian Financial Market Authority (FMA). As a trusted partner of mobile network operators, we enable over 1.5 billion subscribers to purchase goods and services from merchants and aggregators with their mobile devices, charged via the operators’ billing system.

BEN FRIED INSIDERS

Searching for talent Headhunting firm SRI recently tapped industry veteran Ben Fried to lead its betting and gaming practice. We sat down with him to discuss the search for talent in a rapidly growing industry SO, FIRST THINGS FIRST, WHAT ENTICED YOU TO JOIN SRI? You get to a point in your career when you’re looking for something new.

And with over 20 years of experience in the industry, I recognise that leadership and top talent are one of the most important things – if not the most important thing – for businesses. So having the opportunity to affect that, helping clients and candidates find the right fit, was quite a compelling proposition for me.

If you’re successful in executive search and recruitment, then the client is really happy because they’ve got the best possible candidate available; the candidate is overjoyed, because they have hopefully found a life-changing role; and the search consultant is happy because they’ve done a successful job.

"Diversity is also important in all industries, and there should be no difference for betting and gaming" SRI is global, which is great, but it has a really interesting mantra, which is slightly different, and I really bought into it. We say that we are small enough to care, but big enough to influence and bold enough to challenge.

COULD YOU EXPLAIN THE EXECUTIVE SEARCH PROCESS AND HOW YOU GO ABOUT CONNECTING COMPANIES WITH TALENT? There’s an objective selection process, and it’s specifically designed to minimise

unconscious bias, thereby promoting diversity to ensure we have a really fair process. This is all about agreeing on the competencies and the critical skills that will drive success within any given role.

So we objectively evaluate those candidates against those criteria, and skills competencies, and then we facilitate the client-candidate interactions throughout the process, presenting a great long list and then a shortlist to the client. As and when the client hopefully makes a selection from that list, we step in and help manage the process so that we’re representing the best interests of the candidate, and the client.

THE BETTING AND GAMING INDUSTRY WORLDWIDE IS UNDERGOING A BIG PERIOD OF REGULATION AND RE-REGULATION. DO YOU FORESEE THIS POSING ANY NEW CHALLENGES WHEN IT COMES TO EXECUTIVE SEARCH? 100%, it already is. The role of compliance, legislation, the do's, the don’ts and the pitfalls

you can stumble into are a big challenge for the industry. Staying on top of all this is proving to be a real challenge for some of these global companies. It’s not just state-by -state regulation in the US, it’s the UK market changing regularly, every market in Europe updating its regulation; you’ve got grey markets, you’ve got black markets and from what I can see, a huge amount of disparity in the complexity of regulation in different regions.

I think you have to look at other sectors, and you have to look at smart and creative ways to get talent over to the US to help this state-by-state approach. But as that talent moves, it reduces talent in the European market, and it’s not like the European market isn’t a huge betting and gaming market as well. It’s still bigger than the US, and is forecast, I believe, to be bigger than the US for the next couple of years. It’s just that growth isn’t happening at the same pace. Diversity is also important in all industries, and there should be no difference for betting and gaming. It is and should be a focus, and has been over the last few years, though it should have been for longer.

YOU MENTIONED THIS SORT OF BRAIN DRAIN THAT’S HAPPENING FROM EUROPE TO THE US. HOW IS EUROPE RESPONDING? Since there are fewer, very large companies – like Flutter and Entain – they’re able to move, internally, their talent between jurisdictions. But if I was sat at the leadership table at one of these businesses, I would want to put my best talent in the high-growth markets, because that’s where the war will be won in a lot of ways.

But it chimes with how it was in the early 2000s. Betting operators put a lot of weight into customer acquisition, and forgot about customer retention. I think managing the multimillion pounds worth of revenue in European markets should be as important a focus as capturing the growth in higher-growth markets.

It remains to be seen, for me, whether companies are doing that effectively.

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INSIDERS MIKAEL LIJTENSTEIN

The beating heart of all businesses AstroPay CEO, Mikael Lijtenstein, speaks to Gambling Insider on securing customer loyalty through a better user-centric payment experience confidence every time they choose a payment option and, in most cases, the choice is due to familiarity. Knowing the consumer means understanding their culture, their way of living and their most common activities.

In-depth research into the key consumer motivations to choose a payment option is paramount to understanding them. Speaking their native language as well as providing them with the most renowned local payment methods generates a sense of closeness and engagement.

It is why we believe that user-centric payment is powering businesses. It is no longer the secret ingredient in the success of a business.

Preference to pay is also different in countries.

It is only when we look at the context and consumer profile country by country that we can start to shape our business and product development strategy.

With so many options available, payments solutions need to provide the best user experience to convert sales and retain customers. Delivering a journey that is as natural as possible to customers and that requires only a few clicks to get the transaction done is no longer an option, but mandatory.

In the context of increased competition and unprecedented digitalisation accelerated by the Covid-19 pandemic, technology has evolved and the consumer is ever-more demanding. It’s getting harder to attract new customers, especially Generation Z and Millennials, and retain them as loyal users.

What we are learning is that companies need to demonstrate a level of innovation and agility to keep up with ever-changing technology, and how they are influencing the landscape of payments.

"This trend of cashless payments seems evident among millennials and zillennials that are digital natives" There has been a significant growth in contactless, mobile and internet banking payments, alongside a continued reduction in cash usage. As a result of the pandemic, for the first time in six years, the total number of payments declined, falling by 11% in the UK. However, contactless increased by 12%, forming 27% of all UK payments.

UNDERSTANDING WHAT CONSUMERS LIKE The younger generation are more likely to choose the digital or cashless way of payments. This trend seems evident among millennials and zillennials that are digital natives. Their mobile phones are an extension of their bodies and minds, and they tend to concentrate all their activities in them.

This context has produced a hypercognitive generation that is very comfortable with

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collecting and cross-referencing many sources of information, and they are most likely to engage with new ways of digital payments such as electronic wallets, payment links and digital banks.

To start attracting and engaging today’s customers and new generation of consumers, payments need to be simplified and enhanced to deliver the best user experience. Payments is the beating heart of all businesses and it is central to customer experience, so companies have no option but to evolve to keep up with customers’ requirements.

USER-CENTRIC APPROACH IS POWERING BUSINESS There is a strong demand for trust and security embedded in every transaction a consumer carries out. Users make a vote of

WHAT’S NEXT? There is a need to remove all traces of friction at the checkpoint to increase conversion rate and avoid losing users during the payment procedure.

By adopting a user-centric approach, it will reveal the insights needed to create a truly seamless experience. Merchants and users are open to changes in financial services, with a substantial need for instant payments that avoid complex transaction processes involving multiple parties.

Technology and payment solutions should keep up with ever-changing user preferences. Those who manage to combine a secure environment and a smooth checkout experience are the ones to achieve better results.

FEATURES

PRODUCT REVIEWS

WHAT’S NEW ON THE MARKET As the land-based industry slowly but surely finds its feet again, Gambling Insider takes a close look at some of the exciting products that are now available on the casino floor NEXIO Advansys NEXIO is a result of a whole new philosophy in design and development of Casino Management System (CMS). It is an advanced CMS platform, delivering ultimate user experience across all system modules.

From Slots to Tables, from simple tasks to the most complex analytics or marketing campaigns, users can immediately obtain benefits from a whole new level of product.

NEXIO means faster, wider and deeper comprehension of all CMS data with access from virtually everywhere.A unique and all-in-one CMS with which casino and players too benefit with a total integration of all, slot machines, table games, and some third-party hardware and software.

A modular and scalable CMS with a functionality that fits casino needs independent of size or number of locations.

Available modules are: Accounting & Cage, Ticketing, Jackpots, Player Tracking, Cashless, ZITRO ANNOUNCES FIRST PREMIUM MULTIGAME ON ITS CABINET: ALTIUS GLARE GLARE is a large family of four slot machine cabinets composed by form factors.

The tallest one is Altius Glare. With its impressive 55-inch and 27-inch Full HD displays, and its Intelligent LED Halo, Altius Glare is the ideal form-factor for a truly immersive gameplay.

This high-class cabinet also features 4k graphic resolution images, a smart deck digital keypad with large buttons, wireless mobile charger, and easy access to the interior for both players and operators.

Thanks to the very high capacity and talent of the team who achieved these impressive 4k images, Zitro’s first premium multigame launch– Wheel of Legends - offers the best graphics currently in the market.

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Reception, MultiCurrency, Okto Payments.

NEXIO provides minute to minute operation functions and real-time management through the property with: • Analytics for Management – No more questions about what is currently happening on site. NEXIO offers easily accessible analysis, tools and prompts that will help casino make informed and timely decisions.

• Operations Optimisation –Smooth operations with optimised cost and control.

Wheel of Legends features four game titles with 4 levels of jackpot, unique “243 ways” game mechanics and exclusive features such as Free Games, Multipliers, and

NEXIO helps manage main casino operations with ease while making sure that everything is under control, including the costs.

• Accelerated Loyalty - Latest in player-centric loyalty programs. NEXIO helps build a strong relationship with players with easily accessible advanced tools for rewarding loyalty, customer relationships, and junkets management.

Advansys NEXIO is developed on extensive global knowledge and experience achieved over more than 15 years dedicated to continuous development and innovation.

Advansys products are currently running worldwide over 30 countries, 11 time zones and total of more than 240 locations.

NEXIO is certified and meets requirements of most demanding casino jurisdictions.

An extremely user-friendly system and easy to use. With an intuitive and customisable user interface. NEXIO grows with casino business and latest trends by being constantly upgraded to give a strong competitive advantage.

Extended Wild Multipliers. During the bonus jackpot, with just 10 symbols, a giant wheel will be activated and randomly draw the mega or the super progressive jackpots.

Sebastian Salat, CEO at Zitro, added, “We constantly work to innovate and develop new game titles and cabinets to keep up with the gaming market’s pace of change. As a global leading gaming supplier, we are committed to provide casino operators high-performing products that will attract more players to their venues and that generate a greater investment return. We are convinced that players around the globe will enjoy the new Wheel of Legends, presented in the Altius Glare cabinet. Thanks to its cutting-edge performance system and striking visuals, this exclusive Multigame Progressive will grow to become a player’s favourite.”

PRODUCT REVIEWS

FEATURES

IGT’S BLAZIN’ FLAMES PROGRESSIVES ON THE CRYSTALCURVE CABINET Ignite new excitement in your existing IGT core portfolio with the bolt-on Blazin’ Flames Progressives featuring achievable progressive jackpots and the versatility to be placed on an extensive library of IGT games and cabinet types.

The three-level, must-hit-by, Blazin’ Flames Progressives jackpots are awarded randomly with a mystery trigger on any qualifying game for jackpot levels one through three, with the convenience of operator-configurable jackpot levels. In addition, Blazin’ Flames Progressives’ unique on-screen win celebrations are displayed on the entire top and bottom screens, creating an energetic player experience.

Players can enjoy the excitement of a Blazin’ Flames Progressives win that will show flawlessly on IGT’s pristine CrystalCurve cabinet.

With a state-of-the-art display, the CrystalCurve’s ultra-high definition 4k resolution screen incorporates vibrant lighting that will sync to a game’s energetic music and sounds for an engaging player experience. In addition, the ergonomically enhanced CrystalCurve cabinet features a Dynamic Player Panel (DPP) with large dual dash buttons, a progressively curved display, extended legroom, and is complete with the convenience of

a built-in external USB charging port.

IGT’s legendary Pharaoh’s Fortune video slot game is now available on the single-screen CrystalCurve cabinet enabling players to enjoy an IGT favourite while also vying for Blazin’ Flames Progressives’ jackpots.

The popular Egyptian-themed game features symbols reminiscent of ancient inscriptions on a five-reel, 10-line theme with entertaining animation sequences and music.

In addition, three Pharaoh symbols initiate a bonus on reels one, two, or three of a played line, and a player can pick stones to reveal additional free spins and bonus multipliers.

APEX LIVE GAMING: CHIPPERX Apex Live Gaming is made up of people who understand and have experience working in a land-based casino. That’s why it makes equipment that helps casino staff do their jobs faster, better, more comfortably, and easier. This is no different with its latest innovation - ChipperX - a new device for casinos designed to be more than a regular chip sorting machine.

Designed and

manufactured by Apex Live Gaming, ChipperX is a dedicated chip management device. It automatically sorts chips by value or colour into one of twelve designated chip tracks. Each chip track is configured to sort and store a defined number of chip types.

ChipperX has the computing power to quickly and accurately count, sort, and distribute up to 500 chips per minute.

It produces game statistics with a minute-by-minute display stored in the device’s memory for one year.

Easy operation is guaranteed by remote control and diagnostics. Through remote access to ChipperX settings and management, Apex’s team of technicians can help customers control the device remotely in real-time.

This reduces operating costs and service time.

The capabilities of this equipment go far beyond the sorting of chips. It provides casino management with detailed game statistics and helps them make the right decisions in situations where it is needed the most.

With reliable chip sorting, twelve chip tracks, simple operation, a clear touch screen, and many other features, it brings convenience to the staff at the table. And as a result, it speeds up the pace of the game.

SPINTEC The classic game of roulette enjoys tremendous popularity and Spintec’s electronic version allows for even more excitement and increased engagement.

Several different attractive high bet or win multipliers like Hotspot and Crown Roulette combined with a single or multilevel Progressive Jackpot will keep players entertained for longer. What is more, the Synchronized double-wheel Roulette can increase the number of bets made by 80%.

Spintec’s Roulette in its automated, live or virtual delivery helps casinos generate more revenue and reduce operational costs by ensuring a tailor-made solution for every casino floor where players engage more and play longer.

However, Roulette is not the only ETG in Spintec’s portfolio. Blackjack, Baccarat/ PuntoBanco, SicBo, Craps and Andar Bahar all rank among most attractive games on any floor. They all received a major user interface update recently, and most were enriched with some additional features and side bets that

make them even more enjoyable.

Spintec’s attractive Sic Bo game already boasts an extremely life-like animation.

They further complemented it with new multipliers and a Progressive Jackpot to increase the thrill of the game. Baccarat has been updated with different card squeeze types and speed possibilities, and now includes 20 different betting fields. Additionally, the tournament mode was developed while the game was upgraded with nine different side bets with high winnings, including four proprietary bets and the hugely popular Lucky 6. Blackjack has been enhanced with five innovative and attractive sidebets that bring additional winnings and Craps is now also available in the virtual edition to create an even more realistic feel.

All these fantastic ETGs come in a range of hardware options to accommodate any space or design requirement. It is possible to choose between different Karma GEN2 and Aura casino floor varieties, while the Bartop is specially developed for mounting on bar countertops.

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BetGames.TV

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Betsoft Gaming

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Ainsworth Game Technology

Big Time Gaming

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Aristocrat

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Continent 8

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DataSpade Inc.

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Digitain LLC

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Global Payments Gaming Solutions

EvenBet Gaming

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EveryMatrix

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Evolution

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Exacta Solutions

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Habanero

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Elys Game Technology

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JCM Global

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Konami Gaming Inc.

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Play Attack

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FINAL The convenience WORD of home betting Robert Linnehan, Editor at XLMedia, discusses the impact of the recently launched New York mobile sports betting market

These offerings could be worse, but never underestimate the convenience of betting from home or from your couch. We are not going to know until online sports betting develops in New York over time.

Do you think the regulation of online sports betting in New York has caused a dilemma with sportsbook operators and will affect the offerings given to customers?

Well, I don’t know much of a dilemma they will be in, but they are going to be in what should be (or could be) the highest market in the country. Right now, New Jersey seems to pull in the most handle every month but I imagine New York will be able to overtake that later on in 2022. I guess what would make life difficult for them would be the higher tax rate at 51%, one of the highest rates in the country. This is one thing, but it could be offset by just the amount bet each month; it’s to be determined. That would be the only difficulty I could see for any operators conducting business in New York.

In terms of the higher tax rate, who do you think will struggle more, operators or the customer?

If anyone, it’s going to hurt New York sports bettors. The high tax rate is really going to limit the offerings sportsbook operators can give customers. It may impact the line slightly; you could see people still going into New Jersey.

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"OTHER THAN FLORIDA, CALIFORNIA AND TEXAS, THIS IS GOING TO BE THE BIGGEST MARKET" Just how big of a deal is the new launch for sportsbooks? Is it significantly better than your average market launching because it's New York, or is it similar to other states in many respects?

It’s a huge deal, it is going to be the largest market at least since New Jersey legalised several years ago. It could potentially overtake New Jersey once all nine operators are up and running in full capacity. The nine operators did not launch at once, with the state instead going for a staggered launch where a couple would go live and another handful would go live after.

Other than Florida, California and Texas, this is going to be the biggest market that offers online sports betting, it will absolutely have an impact on the sportsbooks and on the operators that are legalised now to offer sports betting in New York. I would imagine, if things go well, they could offer up other licences and bring in

other operators; that is definitely a possibility.

It will be interesting to see how things progress now that the market has kicked off.

What are the chances people may still end up going to New Jersey if regulations are proven too tight?

Right now, it’s hard to tell, I’ve seen reports and there have been studies that say upwards of 20% of bets placed in New Jersey each month are simply from New Yorkers going into the state to place them. It will reduce in New Jersey, obviously when New York offers its sports betting program. But why cross over a bridge and make a 20-minute drive one-way when you can simply bet from your house one morning?

We are going to have to see reports from New York on their handle when it’s up and running, and then we will be able to accurately tell how much of an impact it has. It definitely will, but just how much remains to be seen.

What hurdles are still ahead for online sportsbooks as they go live?

Well with it launching in January, with the goal to have it running smoothly by the Super Bowl on 13 Feb, hopefully not a lot. Any hurdles?

I would say it was just a matter of the state approving where each sportsbook server would be housed, they have to be housed in one of four casinos, I believe; that would have been one of the final hurdles.

I know there was internal control work to do and be approved. But this is really the finish line. All of the big regulatory hurdles were met earlier and now it’s a matter of fine-tuning everything as the market is lifting off the ground.

And with XLMedia, what are you guys looking forward to most from the newly regulated state?

I know it’s going to be one of the biggest markets in the country, if not the biggest. I think everyone at XLMedia is thrilled that we have finally been able to launch in such an important state for the US.