88 minute read
Sports Betting
from SBC Leaders Issue 21
by SBC Global
Bob Akeret Mike Van Ermen
FSB: CURATING THE WIN FOR THE US MARKET
BOB AKERET, VP OF OPERATIONS, AND MIKE VAN ERMEN,
VP OF BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT, discuss FSB’s expansion across the US and the reasons why their experience on the operator side has helped shape their leadership strategy
BY ERIN GALLAGHER
SBC: Thanks for taking the time to chat with us! Can you give us a brief introduction to yourselves?
MVE: So I’m the VP of Business Development here at FSB, and I’m based out in Las Vegas. I used to work on the operator side of things, spending several years over at Circa Sports where I helped establish their operations, not only in Nevada but Colorado as well. I wasn’t a bookmaker by any stretch of the imagination, but I’ve done all the business operations on the operator side. BA: I’m the VP of Operations here at FSB, based out of Atlantic City, New Jersey - born and raised! I’ve been in the industry for a little over 10 years now. Similar to Mike, I also worked on the operator side with Resorts and Resorts Digital so I’ve got a lot of experience on the retail side of things pre-PASPA.
Unlike Mike who comes from Nevada, which had sports betting, I came from a bit of a different background. In Atlantic City, we had the retail casinos - that experience was very instrumental in building a team with Resorts Digital on the operation side.
SBC: How did you become involved with FSB?
MVE: So both Bob and I started talking to FSB in around Q4 2020. At that point in time they really hadn’t established their foothold in the United States yet. They were really looking for some industry experience to go ahead and lead that US business. Bob and I both received some phone calls, went
through a lengthy interview process - this didn’t just involve us interviewing us, but us interviewing them! We really just wanted to make sure that we were aligned with FSB’s vision.
With both of us being on the operator side of things, it was very important to us to have a deep understanding of what FSB wanted to achieve. It was a big move for us to jump on to the other side of the counter.
We wanted to be a part of a company that shared our vision, and that really leveraged our expertise and our passion for quality and operator-based software in the United States. So we both joined in late 2020 and we’ve been really helping shape the United States strategy ever since. BA: With Dave McDowell and Sam Lawrence’s vision, they could have entered the US market in 2018 as plenty of other people did. As we all know, it was definitely a case of speed to market. But now we’re seeing a lot of frustrations from sportsbooks. So there is a huge opportunity for the switcher market - those operators who are frustrated with their existing technology, many of whom have been promised the world which has been under-delivered really.
Both Mike and I have that previous platform experience. We know where platforms have excelled and what hasn’t. David and Sam really gave us a blank piece of paper, if you will, to enter the US and give our expertise. We have been able to say how the platform needs to run, because this is what the end user - namely the sportsbook or casino - is going to experience. MVE: I completely agree! Following on from that, something that I’ve been very excited about and passionate about is that FSB really understands the differences between the markets, right? They know that a European sportsbook is not the same as a US sportsbook.
They said we need local boots on the ground to say ”this is how the software needs to work to empower and enable these sportsbook operators who will actually become customers” . BA: Localisation has also been a huge thing - it’s more than just replacing an S with a Z when switching up spellings! FSB are actually taking the time to localise their product to suit North American bettors.
SBC: In your opinion, how have your previous roles shaped your leadership styles when spearheading FSB’s expansion across the North American market?
BA: I think we’re both just really passionate about this opportunity. We were both given the keys to drive our business on the operator side. I mean, at least for me in New Jersey, everything was a greenfield opportunity.
We’re building this business from the ground up and it’s almost, you know, we’re mirroring that on the B2B side of things where I at least knew what the pitfalls were. As an operator, you’re passionate and you want to see something succeed. Now, it’s almost come full circle where I’m on the supplier side and we’re now creating this platform to fulfil that need that I had on the operator side. MVE: For me, personally, the operator background is everything that I draw on in order to have success here in North America and shaping this vision for FSB. Just like Bob said, we’ve both been sold platforms before. We’ve both been told about theoretical functionality that we hope will exploit our local operations. And subsequently, we have both been frustrated with some of the representation on the technology side as operators.
We really took it as a challenge to say that we can absolutely do better. With our experience, we understand everything that happens before we go live with anybody, we understand what the potential problems may be. So hopefully five years down the road, all of the customers that we go live with will never understand what the problems were pre-2020 or pre-2021
with the industry and sportsbook platforms. That’s really the North Star in the driving light for us.
SBC: The North American market is becoming very saturated, very quickly. What is it that makes FSB stand out from the competition?
BA: Something that our Head of Marketing, Chris Graham, says is that FSB is ”curating the win”. We’re not taking a product off the shelf, we don’t have an infomercial and it’s not a 1800 number that you can call for some hodgepodge, standard technology. We’re sitting on the other side of the table, we’ve been in the operator’s shoes and we fully understand what can be frustrating you.
If you’re new to the market, we can tell you about the things that you
should be looking out for. Take our expertise and our experience, and let that speak for itself. I think that’s something that is setting FSB apart from some of the others out there. MVE: I think the experience and expertise of the team is a big part of it, and that has certainly helped drive our success. But the experience would be nothing without the technology, which is the engine behind it all. The experience is the driver, but the actual engine and the gas pedal is the tech stack that the FSB platform is built upon.
I think it’s not too bold to say that for any customer who is looking for a B2B solution, we can accommodate any different type of style - whether that’s an enterprise trading solution or a fully managed trading solution.
If a company has their own front ends for their website or their mobile app, or they have their own PAM, we are flexible and dynamic enough. So because we are built on one technology stack, there is no “well, we can’t do this, we don’t provide this level of support, we don’t provide these components of the business”.
We can provide our version of a PAM or our version of a front end, but somebody can always come in and say “I love everything that FSB does, but I’ve already spent a lot of money developing my own front end, I’d like to plug that in”. So no matter who it is, if they are going a B2B route, FSB is a prime candidate. BA: It’s a very modular, flexible platform where we understand that you’re going to want to plug and play and be able to pull levers on your business. We see sports betting exploding across the US, and this is almost the step into finding out whether igaming is going to be introduced across every state and whether operators are going to have to go through a migration process to get into igaming.
We have all of this under one roof, where it’s a single back office. It’s a single system, it’s not the case where you have these bolted-on bonusing engines and trading tools where nothing really talks with each other. I think that’s one of the most frustrating things about being an operator - you learn to live by logging into 10 different systems to do 10 different things. Being able to log into a single back office and touch all these different modules is just much more efficient. MVE: I think there’s another component to that. If you look at the sports betting industry from 2018 to now, we’re coming up on the four year anniversary of the first state going live. The industry looks completely different, right? So in the summer of 2026, the industry will also look completely different than what it does now. None of us can exactly tell you what that difference is going to be.
The key component with FSB is that you will be future proofing yourself; you’re preventing yourself from having to go through a migration in a few years time. You have the opportunity to grow and carry FSB with you wherever you end up. •
WILLIAM WOODHAMS: TAKING THE FITZDARES EXPERIENCE INTERNATIONAL
THE CEO SHINES A LIGHT ON THE BOOKMAKER’S PLANS
to make its mark in Canada, explaining how the company will deliver a premium, personalised experience to bettors across Ontario
BY ERIN GALLAGHER
Ontario - the province that has been on everyone’s lips since it went live back in April. But as betting operators from around the world try to get in on the action, what’s the key to success in this soon-to-be betting powerhouse?
For some, it’s bonuses and offers that capture the attention of bettors. For others, it’s stand-out technology. And for Fitzdares, it's a combination of the two mixed with an uber personalised experience for those enjoying a flutter.
The Mayfair, London-based bookmaker was among the first cohort of operators to be granted an iGaming Operator Registration from the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario, with plans to go live in summer 2022.
Similar to its UK and Irish offering, the SBC Racing Sportsbook of the Year 2020 has already set its sights on delivering a luxury experience to gamblers on the other side of the Atlantic. But how, you might ask?
In an interview with SBC Leaders, Fitzdares CEO William Woodhams explained that the AGCO licence is a landmark achievement for the business. But with huge competition, Fitzdares is placing customer service at the heart of its Canadian operations.
He began: “We are thrilled to be able to deliver a premium betting experience to the Canadian market. We’ve seen some pretty dire consumer experiences since betting became legal in the market and we hope to offer those looking for a luxury experience a real alternative.
“Receiving our AGCO licence is a landmark achievement for the business. There will be huge competition in this newly-regulated market, but we feel our more premium and customer-focused experience will be an ideal fit.
“Work is very much underway to ensure that we deliver on our promise – in style. I would like to thank the teams at both the AGCO and iGaming Ontario for supporting us with our application and preparations for launch.”
The Ontario market, Woodhams shared, features both attractive licensing conditions as well as a forward-thinking approach to marketing; not to mention a “brilliant” audience of bettors to tap into.
This favourable environment made Ontario an obvious choice for Fitzdares. When pressed on what made this particular market stand out, Woodhams added: “Firstly, it’s the regulator with attractive licensing conditions. Then it’s the audience – well-off, mature in their deep knowledge and understanding of sport and frankly, they’re brilliant people.
“Also, being based in the UK, the time zone works for us. But what we really like is the forward-looking marketing restrictions, where it isn’t a race to the bottom with $1,000 sign-up bonuses advertised via affiliates.”
Fitzdares’ first North American launch
will be complemented by its exclusive members’ club, The Fitzdares Club, which will open its doors next year. Having already opened up clubs in London’s Mayfair and the Cotswolds in South West England, this new addition aims to bring what Woodhams describes as a “je ne sais quois” to the Canadian betting market.
The location of the club, however, is yet to be decided as the bookmaker plans to test out a number of venues with pop-up events before deciding on a permanent home - although, we can reveal that Ottawa and Toronto are looking to be likely candidates.
Talk soon turned towards Fitzdares’ European experience and, more specifically, its association with more ‘traditional sports’ such as horse racing, football … sorry, soccer, and rugby. But with Canadians showing much more of a penchant for hockey and lacrosse, pricing such sports can come with its own set of challenges.
Woodhams added: “We are a lean business and our core trading in the UK is obviously horse racing. We have hired North American sports experts to assist in our trading strategy, but we have confidence in how our principal technology partner FSB Tech has been building its business to service both Canada and the US.
“We are delighted to be among their first digital partners to go live in North America when we launch in Ontario this summer.”
So what does this mean for its UK customers? Well, they may want to start getting to grips with some more North American sports as Woodhams explained that these Canadian favourites may begin to feature much more in its UK offering.
“Whilst we’re offering these sports already, they are clearly fairly low turnover … for now,” he told SBC Leaders. “We’re going to be pricing up specials for our Canadian customers
and there’s no reason why we wouldn’t offer them back home in the UK.
“We’re also looking at streaming options outside of horse racing and that would provide an obvious gateway into Canadian sports for our customers.”
Pricing new sports can come with its own set of challenges, but one of the greatest obstacles that faced the Fitzdares CEO when applying for an AGCO licence was ensuring that he got the name of the national sport correct.
For those based in the UK, it appears that referring to “ice hockey” is somewhat of a cardinal sin in Canada - a realisation that became very clear to Woodhams after a quiet word from the regulator.
“I was scolded by the regulator for saying ‘ice’ and was worried it might even jeopardise our licence. They forgave me in the end, and you’ll never catch anyone calling it ‘ice hockey’ in this business.”
The next few months certainly look to be exciting for Fitzdares as it plants its flag in the North American market,
and as we progress further into 2022, the CEO urged SBC Leaders to ‘watch this space’ for more developments.
Giving us a sneak peek into what’s to come, Woodhams concluded: “Market access, operations and the cost of sales is very high in the US. If more Canadian provinces or, indeed, US States follow the Ontario model, we’ll be there.
“If market access continues to be tethered to bricks and mortar, it’s more likely that we’d partner with a larger operator on the experiential side rather than operate ourselves. This is a hugely exciting time for our business, but we’ll be making our moves carefully.” •
BEDE GAMING’S SARAH HITCHCOCK: FULLY EMBRACING THE DIGITAL APPROACH
SARAH HITCHCOCK,
EVP BEDE CANADA and Chief Product Officer, shares her insight into the positive influence that digital technology is wielding on the lottery and gaming sectors
BY CHRIS MURPHY
SBC: What is Bede Gaming’s philosophy around driving digital and how does that fit within the collaborative process with a lottery operator like OLG?
SH: Bede’s aim, for all its operators, is to support and enable them to deliver upon their strategic plans and objectives. Most of our operators, like OLG, come from the retail market, and so we work hand-in-hand with them to support them in their digital aspirations. The Bede platform is highly flexible so it’s important that we work together to ensure its set up is aligned with their ambitions and target market.
Ultimately, operators want to give their customers the most relevant, tailored and exciting product and proposition in all channels, all of the time. We believe that the only true way to do this is through putting digital at the heart of your growth strategy.
OLG has fully embraced digital as a complementary channel to its retail arm and is hugely benefiting from this approach. OLG is uniquely positioned and trusted as the only operator that is giving money back directly to the people of Ontario. By leveraging Bede’s Platform, technology and subject matter experts, OLG
can continue to offer its customers and Ontarians an entertaining, exciting, convenient and personalised experience.
Other lottery operators can also benefit from this collaborative approach and provide further support to the communities they serve by prioritising a digital strategy.
SBC: In what ways do you think that digital is helping push lotteries to become more competitive?
SH: The vast majority of customers who play the lottery, are making other day-to-day purchases online. Many of them will also be buying their lottery tickets online. Whilst for some, they have the habit of buying their lottery ticket in their preferred retail location, digital is always going to be a more convenient way of doing this, as Covid has shown us. Once a customer shifts some of their purchasing from retail to digital, evidence shows it's very unlikely they will go back.
Whilst lotteries continue to perform well, many are seeing the sales of lottery tickets through retail starting to plateau and in some cases decline; both as a result of customers choosing to focus their entertainment spend elsewhere or by moving their spend from retail to digital.
The two critical words for any business are ‘relevance’ and ‘convenience’, and lotteries are no different - how do they remain relevant and convenient for their customers or potential customers? Digital entertainment brands use their data to offer compelling propositions. It is up to the lottery to provide a better alternative.
We are already seeing the leading lotteries embrace digital as the driving force of innovation across their organisations; launching new lottery games, creating new games concepts, enhancing their offering with exciting promotions or loyalty programmes. Digital platforms enable lotteries to expand their offering rapidly, whilst also tailoring their messaging to a customer.
We believe that the combination of taking advantage of best-in-class digital tools and products which enable a personalised experience for every customer, with the trust and respect of the lottery brand, is a recipe for success that is very hard to compete with.
SBC: What about the player experience? How is Bede Gaming using technology to enhance that and what are the challenges involved in reacting to changes in player preference?
SH: Player experience is integral for any operator to be successful. Bede’s platform and tools have been specifically developed to optimise a player experience no matter the product vertical. The flexibility of the platform means that each client can tailor the available tools to create a truly personalised player experience for each customer - from live chat to real time data to offers, games and safety measures. All of this work together to enforce the trust in the operator’s brand whilst also deepening loyalty as their every whim is catered for.
We recommend that lotteries use the Bede platform in combination with enterprise level Content Management Systems (CMS) and Customer Relationship Marketing (CRM) such as Adobe Experience and Adobe Campaign Manager. Bede’s clients, including OLG and Eyas Gaming, have demonstrated how the real time data and power of Bede's technology can enable them to target customers with the right product, right message and right offer at the right time. This allows them to create a great relationship with their customers, and to build an active conversation to ensure they have a fun and rewarding time, every time they play.
The key is staying relevant and
part of that is understanding player preference and being able to react in the moment. Legacy technology that requires manual and analogue analysis takes too long; by the time you’ve made an informed decision, the opportunity has passed and the process needs to start again. Best in class software ensures operators have that information, and the means to implement campaigns off the back of that information, at the time it’s needed.
SBC: With digital now touching on most aspects of daily life, how do you ensure that it remains a tool to enhance OLG’s offer through intuitive design and entertaining products rather than simply become a superficial function?
SH: Whilst most lotteries are the exclusive destination for lottery products, the majority of operators will offer the same range of sports bets, casino games, bingo games or poker. It is the brand, the look and feel, the tone of voice, the experience and critically the relevance of the product and message that differentiate operators.
If an operator uses enterprise level Content Management Systems and Customer Relationship Marketing tools in isolation from a best of breed platform then the outcome will be superficial. A cutting edge platform, with real time data, rules engine and dynamic segmentation is the glue that holds the process together and gives the operator the holistic view necessary to ensure an effective entertainment experience.
Therefore, if the operator selects a platform which easily integrates into enterprise level tools like Adobe, then this can enable an automated, optimised and personalised experience for each customer, every time they interact with the brand via a digital channel.
SBC: Looking ahead to the rest of 2022, what’s in store for Bede Gaming and its partners on the technology front? What developments can we expect to see?
SH: Bede works across Africa, Europe and North America; each market has its own needs and is at its own stage of maturity. We will continue to work with our operators to develop their products, technology and roadmap to enhance their offerings, with a particular focus on customer retention mechanics.
The introduction of Colin ColeJohnson as Bede’s new CEO is an exciting time for us. Colin brings with him extensive experience from the operator side, which gives us a unique insight into making further developments to the platform to ensure it continues to support and facilitate the realisation of our clients’ ambitions.
In Ontario, the market has just opened up, enabling not just more operators, but making it easier for content suppliers to access the Ontario market; Bede is looking forward to further increasing the range of games and products customers will have access to.
In Germany, whilst the market is live, casino licences have yet to be issued, and like all newly regulated markets, we can expect a continuous stream of changes. We expect to be doing a lot of work in Germany, building upon Gauselmann’s strong position and heritage. We’re also really excited to see how Eyas does in Germany, having started very strongly in the UK under the Merkur brand.
And recently, we saw the prospect of casino slots in the South African market, where we work with Sun Bet, moving a step closer, which is fantastic.
So the future of 2022 looks very promising for Bede and our customers. •
STEWART GROUMOUTIS: OPENBET POISED TO BREAK NEW GROUND IN CANADA
WITH ONTARIO RECENTLY OPENING its newly regulated market, opportunities continue to present themselves in Canada. OpenBet’s recently appointed VP Commercials - Canada, Stewart Groumoutis, discusses the challenges he expects to face in his new role, as well as the prospect of pushing OpenBet to even dizzier heights on the world stage
BY ERIN GALLAGHER
SBC: Congratulations on your new role. What were the main factors in your decision to join OpenBet?
SG: I have watched OpenBet go through a number of iterations over the years, with different controlling groups and different leadership, but the one thing that has always stayed true is that it is an innovative, progressive organisation. In undertaking this new role, I recognised the opportunity for OpenBet to take that to the next level and to be at the front line of driving online and land-based legalised gambling in North America, as well as worldwide.
Historically, OpenBet has had some of the biggest customers possible in markets such as the UK – now, as North America, especially the US, continues to expand, I feel that OpenBet is poised to be the sports betting partner of choice. On top of that, I think there will be a lot of innovation in the sports betting space over the next few years and I feel OpenBet will be a huge part of that. It’s exciting to be part of an organisation that wants to create the change, not just follow it.
SBC: In what ways will the experience from your time with British Columbia Lottery Corporation and the lottery industry benefit the way you approach your new career at OpenBet?
SG: I’ve been in the online gambling space for close to 20 years, first with a private entity and then with a government run organisation, and I’ve been in a number of different scenarios in that time. The BCLC was a pioneer in the online gambling space when it came to government regulated gambling in North America and continues to be the top performer in a lot of categories in North American gambling.
Working in this environment allowed me to observe what works and how success can be achieved, while being a customer on the OpenBet platform gave me unique insight into how customers best utilise the technology and retail sports capabilities of the company, as well as how to work effectively with OpenBet as a partner. Now, stepping into my new career, all of that experience and knowhow is channelled into meeting the customer’s needs before they recognise them, and make sure
OpenBet is responsive and proactive in serving customers the way they need to be served to be successful in the North America market.
SBC: What is your immediate focus as VP Commercials – Canada at OpenBet?
SG: The first focus is to ensure that our customers in Canada and North America at large are well positioned for success. Beyond that, the opportunity that presents itself is for OpenBet to help shape and guide the way North America builds up
sports betting. We need to recognise that sports betting is still quite an immature industry in North America, with leagues and customers just starting to adopt sports betting and recognising how much it can add to their viewing entertainment. By moving to quickly understand the nuances of North America in comparison to markets like the UK, we can ensure that we’re serving operators the way they want to be served. This means making sure our technology, content and services are delivered in a personalised way that meets their exact needs. This is especially important when you consider the top sports for bettors in North America, such as baseball and basketball, which would differ from a market like the UK. Differences in sport and live betting, and the way that plays out, are extremely important for us.
SBC: Since Ontario introduced an open and legalised online sports betting on April 4, how has the market performed?
SG: Early reports are that it’s performing extremely well. There has been a lot of transition of players into those regulated options. It is a unique
situation where a significant number of those operators were already present in the previous grey market, and now have just made a conversion. In some cases, the customers themselves haven’t changed anything about their behaviour, but the bets they now make fall legally under the Canadian criminal code.
I think it will be very interesting to see how the top line revenue in the province translates to bottom line profit, as that will be the key indicator of success or failure to the Ontario government. Ultimately, profit is the contributing factor as to whether it is considered a success.
SBC: Does a grey market still exist in Ontario? How can industry stakeholders ensure bettors are directed to legalised betting apps?
SG: There is still very much a present and strong grey market in Ontario. They have done a great job of creating a very open and accessible market to those who want to receive a licence, although they still have not addressed any sort of punishment or reasons for the grey market to leave. There is also the consideration of how those operators that are licensed in Ontario expose themselves to customers across Canada. While the licence provides them with a legal stance to provide gambling to Ontario residents, it is still against the law to provide online gambling to the other jurisdictions in Canada. It will be interesting to see how that plays out and how those customers fare if they have to remove themselves from certain provinces as part of their licence.
SBC: What’s next for sports betting in Canada, is it a waiting game to see how Ontario unfolds?
SG It is key to recognise that the Ontario government will be watching very closely to see how the top line revenue transitions into profit. The other provinces will also be paying
attention to the level of performance displayed: how much of the market is captured by the legalised, licensed model, but also attempting to quantify how much remains in the grey market. This will determine whether they make their own in-roads into regulation.
SBC: Finally, what are OpenBet’s plans for Canada?
SG: OpenBet has a very strong historic presence in Canada, primarily with BCLC and also LotoQuébec. As pioneers in the space, we brought some of the first online sports betting into the country for those operators. We also work with the Atlantic Lottery Corporation, and we need to explore more opportunities to work with the other jurisdictions as well. OpenBet is well poised to participate in the new licence regime in Ontario so capitalising on opportunities to bring some of our open market sports capabilities to those different operators will be key. Generally, we will continue to observe how the market develops, in Canada and across North America, to make sure that OpenBet is ready to serve and help operators become extremely successful in their jurisdictions. •
JAMES KILSBY: CALIFORNIA IS SET FOR EPIC SPORTS BETTING SHOWDOWN
WITH SEVERAL MONTHS
UNTIL REFERENDUM DAY, VIXIO GamblingCompliance’s Chief Analyst takes a look at why the road to legalising sports betting in California may not be so straightforward
BY JAMES KILSBY
By now, November 8, 2022 will be firmly marked on the calendars of all stakeholders in the US sports betting market as the date when California is set to hold two separate referendums to legalise retail and online sports wagering in the largest potential market in that nation.
The two California initiatives are already on track to become the most expensive ballot campaign in US history - in any state, on any subject - and are an entirely different ball game to previous state ballot measures related to sports wagering.
Eight states have previously held state-wide or local referendums to authorise sports wagering, according to VIXIO GamblingCompliance research.
In 2019, sports betting proponents
only eked out a narrow victory in Colorado, but it was much smoother sailing as Maryland, South Dakota and most of Louisiana approved sports wagering a year later.
The only ballot measures to fail so far were a low key 2021 referendum to expand college betting in New Jersey and a handful of local elections for retail sportsbook facilities in New Hampshire towns and cities.
Nowhere, however, has there been the level of well-organised and deeppocketed opposition that confronts the two competing initiatives in California.
On one side is a coalition of 46 California Indian tribes supporting a ballot measure first unveiled in 2019 to authorise retail-only sports wagering at tribal casinos and state-licensed racetracks.
On the other is an alliance of Bally's, BetMGM, DraftKings, Fanatics, FanDuel, Penn National Gaming and Wynn Interactive that has collected more than 1.6 million voter signatures in favour of its proposed constitutional amendment to authorise state-wide mobile sports wagering through partnerships of leading commercial operators and California tribes, with tax revenue going to homelessness and mental health causes.
The two initiatives technically are not in conflict with one another and both would be able to become law should they each be approved by a majority of California voters.
The FanDuel, DraftKings et al initiative was even written to dovetail with the tribes’ retail measure, with several provisions clearly designed to appeal to tribal governments, including the requirement for online operators to have a market-access partnership with a tribe in order to apply for a licence, and lower upfront fees for tribes seeking to launch their own online sportsbook brands.
Nevertheless, the online measure is being vehemently opposed by California tribes who have formed a political action committee called the Coalition for Safe, Responsible Gaming with the aim of passing their own ballot initiative, while simultaneously defeating the rival proposal.
Another group of three California tribes - led by the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians and Rincon Band of Luiseño Indians - is mobilising against the online measure while gathering signatures for a third ballot initiative to authorise retail and mobile sports betting operated exclusively by tribes that is being lined up for the November 2024 ballot on the premise that the FanDuel/DraftKings measure can be defeated this year.
A California market that includes mobile sports betting would undeniably be more lucrative than one limited to retail sportsbooks.
According to VIXIO GamblingCompliance
forecasts, sportsbooks at tribal casinos and racetracks would generate approximately $262m in gross revenue by year five of operations. But a market that also includes state-wide online sports betting would be worth $2.45bn by year five.
With so much more money to be made online, why, then, are tribes not on board?
While a campaign website launched by the California tribal coalition raises concerns of underage play and addiction, the opposition to the online initiative also reflects a desire among tribes to take a cautious approach to online gambling in general given the legal precedent it would set for expanded Class III gaming beyond Indian lands.
Further, even if online sports betting in California is perhaps inevitable given how fast it has spread elsewhere in America, then most tribes believe that Native American governments should be the ones to shepherd in the mobile market, rather than out-of-state companies with so much less already invested in the Golden State.
As of June 1, the Coalition for Safe, Responsible Gaming sponsored by California Indian Tribes had raised $45.5m in support of its campaign, while the separate committee supported by the San Manuel and Rincon tribes had raised more than $35m.
On the other side, the coalition of FanDuel, DraftKings, BetMGM and others had raised just over $100m.
On top of that, two further campaign committees supported by California cardrooms had raised almost $34m to oppose the tribal retail sports betting measure, which also includes provisions to enable California citizens to bring private actions against cardroom venues suspected of offering illegal card games.
The most expensive state ballot initiative in US history came in 2020 when Uber, Lyft and others outspent opponents 10-1 on a $224m referendum campaign to ensure their Californian workers could remain as contractors, rather than full employees.
That eclipsed the $154m spent on a 2008 ballot campaign to ratify compact amendments enabling four California tribes to expand their existing tribal casinos.
In total, state campaign finance records show $214m already raised as of June 1 for California’s 2022 sports betting ballot battles, with the likelihood of many millions more being committed in the run-up to November as campaigning heats up.
With several months until Election Day, it might be too early to confidently predict the outcome of the ballot measures. But it seems a safe bet that California’s ballot battle will go down in history as the most expensive ever. •
BRINGING BROOKLYN CHARM TO LAS VEGAS SPORTSBOOKS
FROM GAMBLING WITH
NUNS to running the Caesars Palace and Wynn Las Vegas sportsbooks, there’s not much that Sports Betting Hall of Fame inductee Vincent Magliulo hasn’t seen during a lifetime in an industry he loves
BY MARTYN ELLIOTT
Vincent Magliulo is definitely one of life’s natural raconteurs.
Over the course of a onehour Zoom call, the anecdotes flow easily from the current Vice President of the Las Vegas Dissemination Company and Sportsbook Director at Gaughan Gaming. Some are surprising and laugh-out-loud funny, while others reveal the background to some key developments in the history of sports betting. Together they tell the story of a remarkable life.
Perhaps the most eyebrow-raising of the stories is how this Brooklyn native came to book the ‘Miracle of 69’ World Series. You may think there’s nothing unusual about a bookmaker taking bets on a major sporting event, but in this case the bookie in question was just 12 years old. And the bettors were the nuns who taught at his Catholic school!
“The nuns were from just outside Baltimore and they were talking about how bad the Orioles were going to win, how dominant they were going to be and how the Mets were a fluke,” Magliulo recalled.
“So I took the liberty of making a
deal with the Sisters. I would volunteer for detention on Fridays for a month if the Orioles won the World Series, but if the Mets won, I would get free milk with my lunch for the ensuing month.
“Well game one goes by and the Orioles win 4-1, and I’m on the playground the next morning and the Principal of all people was funny, saying ‘Oh, Mr Magliulo, it looks like it’s going to be a long fall for you young man’. Can you imagine? I’m a student and here’s a nun talking trash to me. She’s really pressing me, so I did the only thing I could think of, and said ‘Well Sister, how about we press and make it two months?’ She replied, ‘what language, I can’t believe you; you’re on!‘.
“History tells us that the Mets came back and won the next four games, and young Vinny Magliulo drank a lot of milk in the autumn of 1969. But I still got detention for gambling on campus!”
If his school experiences and boyhood trips to New York’s racetracks with his uncles hadn’t already made Magliulo's mind up about his career choice, then a visit to Las Vegas to see his godfather in 1971 certainly did. “It was a wonderful experience. I fell in love with the city and everything it had to offer,” he said.
In 1978, he moved to Las Vegas and trained to be a dice dealer at Michael Gaughan and Frank Toti’s dealing school, before taking a job with them at the Royal Inn Casino. Four months later, he was transferred to Gaughan’s new casino hotel, the Barbary Coast, where he learned the building blocks of what would become his career.
“The Barbary Coast opened in March of 1979, which is a career highlight, as being a 21-year-old opening a casino on Las Vegas Boulevard was just a great experience,” he recalled.
“The greatest part of the experience was that Michael Gaughan really had what I consider to be the first crosstraining programme in Las Vegas. It was quite basic and worked like this, ‘make sure you're good at what I hired you for and go learn what you want throughout the property’.
“So on most of my breaks, I was in the race and sportsbook with my fellow Hall of Famers, Jimmy Vaccaro, Chris Andrews and Art Manteris. And that's where I met Johnny Avello, who was also a dice dealer at the time.”
The skills Magliulo developed at the Barbary Coast resulted in a job offer to join Jim Mastroianni and Lou D’Amico at Caesars Palace, as they looked to develop a successful sportsbook operation. He moved there in 1986 as supervisor and stayed until 2000, by which time he was Vice President of Race & Sports Operations.
As a boxing fan, his tenure at Caesars Palace could hardly have been better timed, as it coincided with the property hosting such classics as Sugar Ray Leonard v Marvin Hagler, Leonard v Tommy Hearns II, and Riddick Bowe vs. Evander Holyfield II.
“We had some of the most legendary boxing events in history,” Magliulo said. “The energy and excitement not only permeated the property, but the fights transcended the entire city. Wherever you went in Vegas - taxis, restaurants, other casinos - those fights were the talk of the town.”
The sportsbook saw plenty of action
on those big fights, but the lasting legacy from Magliulo’s spell at Caesars is the development of NFL prop betting.
Super Bowl prop betting first came to prominence in 1986 when Art Manteris offered odds on whether William ‘The Refrigerator’ Perry would score a touchdown against the New England Patriots, only to incur a six-figure loss when the super-sized Chicago Bear bludgeoned his way into the end zone from a yard out.
Magliulo loved the idea of the prop bet though, reasoning that during the three hours of an NFL match, there were scores of “games within the game” that fans would want to bet on. Within a couple of years, he was offering a dozen football props and by 1994, Caesars was able to offer a then record of 80 props for Super Bowl XXVIII.
“I gathered the staff and said, ‘I want us to put together wagers that you would want to bet on, so put yourself in the customers’ shoes and formulate the bets they want but have never been able to make on the Super Bowl’,” Magliulo said.
“To my staff’s credit, we wound up putting up about 80 different wagers on that Super Bowl. I encourage operators today to get their staff involved because they have good opinions, good ideas.
Magic Moments
The most magnificent and memorable moments from Vincent Magliulo’s career
The Barbary Coast opening
“Opening the Barbary Coast as a 21-year-old was extremely exciting. Then it just gave me a great stepping stone to further my career working for Michael Gaughan at that time.”
Wynn Las Vegas opening
“The Wynn Las Vegas project is actually a milestone. It was just a phenomenal experience. The attention to detail that Steve Wynn and Elaine Wynn (at the time) had is legendary and it's all true, there's no question about it. It was done to the greatest detail you can imagine.”
“Sugar Ray Leonard was making another comeback and he was the underdog in the fight, as Marvin Hagler was undefeated. It was a very pro Leonard crowd, chanting ‘Sugar, Sugar’ in a tremendous way. Now, Leonard’s strategy was to do the majority of his fighting in the last 30 seconds of each round and he winds up getting the decision. It was one of the most exciting nights, but Hagler did not agree with the decision and retired after the fight.”
“This was a rematch, eight years after Leonard won their first fight. Everyone in the world was on Tommy Hearns to get his revenge and he knocked Ray Leonard down twice in this fight. I thought Leonard had lost the fight and called the sportsbook to tell them to get ready to pay out, but then it was announced as a draw. The crowd had a pretty vocal reaction to that result - you can hear chants of ‘BS’ from 16,000 people. We had the draw posted as a proposition bet, but nobody bet the draw for this fight.”
Riddick Bowe v Evander Holyfield, Caesars Palace 1993
“Bowe and Holyfield had three memorable fights in Las Vegas, but certainly the most memorable moment came in this second encounter when the Fan Man crashed the fight. In the seventh round, a guy named James Miller crashed his homemade paraglider into the ring - you had this great fight, then just an unbelievable event. I happened to be standing ringside and saw this guy just literally crash into the ropes in the ring and saw both fighters respond and the crowd. Security immediately got a handle on the situation and got him out of there. The fight was delayed for 20 minutes and Holyfield eventually won a majority decision.”
The Great Refund
“For Super Bowl XXXI, the Packers and the Patriots, the point spread was Green Bay Packers by 14. The game ended 35-21 to Green Bay and I call it the Great Refund. Even with the props and everything associated with the game, there was a line from the sportsbook out to the casino for over 24 hours just refunding tickets. So what I thought of was to put up next year’s Super Bowl. We had the future book and people could pick whichever team, but I put up the NFC-AFC proposition and as people were cashing their tickets to get a refund, I said ‘don't forget, it's not too early to bet next year’s Super Bowl’. We wound up writing over $100,000 in tickets on the next Super Bowl and folks didn't even know which teams were in it.”
The creation of VSiN
“Another career highlight was working with the Musburger family on the creation and launch of the Vegas Stats & Information Network (VSiN) in 2017.
Professor Magliulo
“Being asked by legendary oddsmaker Michael ‘Roxy’ Roxborough to teach the UNLV class on Race & Sportsbook Management was an honour.”
“It just took off from there and, with the creativity in the industry, you see some places with anywhere from 350 to 500 different wagers on the Super Bowl. There’s probably more talk about the proposition bets than the game itself now, as they can account for 60 per cent of the handle.”
One other important change he helped to bring about during his time with Caesars was the introduction of pari-mutuel wagering in Nevada in 1991. He was part of a group of industry professionals who, along with the Nevada Resort Association, crafted the legislation that allowed bets to be commingled across the country.
“At that time, we were booking horse races, like we were booking sports. But I can tell you that there were some races that had far bigger decisions than some NFL football games,” Magliulo explained. “So bets were capped - we paid full track odds up to a certain amount, depending on the property, but there was no real extreme exotic wagering, like pick sixes and things like that.
“So the addition of pari-mutuel wagering allowed patrons to wager and be paid as though they were actually at the racetracks.”
After leaving Caesars Palace for John Gaughan’s Las Vegas Dissemination Company, Magliulo received an invitation to consult on the design of the sportsbook at the new Wynn Las Vegas development on the site of the old Desert Inn. A subsequent meeting with Steve Wynn turned into the briefest of job interviews, when the casino mogul asked him what he thought about the project.
Magliulo recalled: “Steve Wynn asked me what I thought of the project. I said, ‘well, sir, I think that this is certainly going to be a project that not only raises the bar, as you've done in the past with with the Mirage and Bellagio, but it's going to set the new standard and resurrect the entire north end of the strip’. And Steve Wynn said, ‘I already know all of that. Tell me what you really think’.
“I said, ‘well, you probably need a bookie from Brooklyn to run your race and sportsbook’. He said, ‘I love that’ and hired me the next day.”
Magliulo oversaw the design of the resort's sportsbook, its opening in 2005 and operations for the first 12 months of trading, before returning to the Las Vegas Dissemination Company and Gaughan Gaming, where he remains to this day.
Pleasingly, he now also has a media outlet to share his anecdotes and insights, after helping Brian Musburger to found the specialist sports wagering broadcast network VSiN. With so many stories to tell and an almost unrivalled knowledge of sports betting, it’s unlikely that there’s much dead air on his shows.
Magliulo credits his wife and children as the major supporters of his long career. “They’ve endured more sporting events and the betting associated with them than most operators. They are my true blessings.” •
CAIT DEBAUN: PRIORITISING PLAYER SAFETY IN AN EVER-EXPANDING MARKET
SPEAKING TO SBC LEADERS, the American Gaming Association’s VP of Strategic Communications & Responsibility explains why the nascent US sports betting market expands the scope for the Have A Game Plan initiative
BY CHARLIE HORNER
Sports betting is seemingly an ever-expanding market - especially in the US. At the time of writing, 35 states have already legalised sports wagering. With legislation being debated in several other states, the rise of sports betting is set to continue well into 2023 and beyond.
As with most business expansions, such growth poses almost as many challenges as it does opportunities. In the case of gambling, particularly in the online space, the primary challenge is that of player safety. Due to greater accessibility and ease of use of apps, responsible gambling charities have raised concerns over the potential risk to problem gamblers.
Overseeing the US gambling industry is the American Gaming Association, which in 2019 launched its Have a Game Plan Campaign to promote safer gambling tools to players via operator partnerships and bettor education.
So as more states introduce legal sports betting, DeBaun acknowledged that the AGA’s remit to responsible gambling is forever expanding, with the campaign educating players on safer gambling measures.
“Thinking back to the 2018 decision around PASPA, the AGA recognised that responsible gaming and our responsibility broadly is something we've done for decades. It's not new to the industry. It's something we've built in the brick and mortar space. As you know, our remit was expanding as we grew a legal market state by state. Responsibility was our top priority.”
Have A Game Plan, DeBaun outlined, is a multi-faceted campaign that looks outwardly at consumers, operators and other key stakeholders to encourage responsible gambling. Sports leagues, teams and media all
bear ‘responsibility for responsibility’, she advised.
“We're nearing 30 partners that have reflected those various groups and the way that Have A Game Plan reaches customers is through our partners' channels,” DeBaun added. “They know their customers and their fans the best so we wanted to empower them with a responsible gaming message that they could deliver in a compelling way that was authentic for their brands and voices.”
The Association’s Comms lead detailed that RG measures are woven into the fabric of the industry to build a long term, sustainable market on top of key priorities such as player safety.
US industry leaders are constantly looking towards more mature markets, particularly in Europe, to seek long term sustainability. But DeBaun asserted that players should be ‘empowered’ and trusted to set safety limits through education rather than be forced through mandatory hard checks.
She continued: “We saw an opportunity and it's in part consumer education and partly to bolster the reputation and show that everyone here is taking responsible gaming seriously. It's not just the right thing to do. It's a business obligation that our players and fans engage responsibly; this is entertainment for adults and we want to make sure that, as new fans are exposed to sports betting or igaming, they're doing so in a responsible way because our goal is to build a long term sustainable market.”
Paramount to implementing effective RG measures is the research that underpins all policy decisions. DeBaun asserted that research is key to all the AGA’s Have A Game Plan decision making process, with funding and grants provided to institutions dedicated to RG academia.
In November last year, the International Centre for Responsible Gaming - an organisation born out of the AGA - awarded a three-year grant of over $400,000 to Bowling Green State University to conduct a nationwide study into the behavioural patterns of sports bettors in the US. One key aim of the study is to ‘identify risk factors for problematic sportswagering behaviours’.
DeBaun noted that the AGA and its partners welcome the ICRC's work to ensure the best standard of research in the field, adding: “Our role as an industry is to test our products, understand our market and our players and we want to leave that research on effectiveness and impact to those who are better suited in terms of academic rigour to research.”
Central to many plans around responsible gaming strategies is the monitoring and scrutiny of operators’ marketing output. Advertising is often cited as a key stimulant of problem gambling and an area for improvement with regard to RG.
The National Council on Problem Gambling even ensured that advertising limitations were inked into the sports betting legislation in Kansas, with advertisers mandated to avoid adverts targeting minors, limiting
the form, content, quantity, timing and location of advertisements and providing toll-free problem gambling helplines.
Mirroring these views, DeBaun acknowledged that advertising poses significant threats to players, especially during busy periods of the sporting year such as the NFL kickoff; however, she underscored the importance of advertising in bringing players to the legal markets.
“We're very conscious of questions around advertising saturation, and a big part of that for us is getting players to the legal market. In the US, there is a rampant offshore sports betting market and advertising plays a key role in bringing customers into the legal market.
“We're currently planning what that's going to look like in terms of Have A Game Plan activation, but we want to make sure that along with the advertising for your favourite sportsbook, you're also getting some education around what is sports betting and how to do so responsibly.”
Moving the conversation towards specific RG measures, the topic of harder checks in terms of player affordability has been at the centre of debate in the UK. Whilst finding such measures ‘interesting’, the AGA maintains that its recommendations and consumer education are born out of research findings rather than ‘arbitrary measures that sound good on paper’.
DeBaun insisted that all safety measures come from research and market needs, developed by how players interact and engage with different wagering products, whether it is casino, igaming or sports betting.
“Something that’s interesting is that a lot of it is unclear as to what's effective and what's not. So if you think of the casino experience, the ATM is placed a certain distance away from the casino floor, but there's no evidence to say that's why we do this. It just sounded like a good idea on the regulatory front.
“We're interested in understanding what tools work best and providing customers with resources to create a healthy, entertaining experience with sports betting, igaming or any kind of casino gambling. I think that we want to see how our players are interacting with our product and involve evolving and evolving that based on the market needs.”
Ostensibly, Have A Game Plan’s key purpose is to educate players on the key methods to avoid negative wagering habits and the tools available to provide support. As well as providing year-round resources on setting budgets, being aware of odds and encouraging fun play in the legal market, the AGA also engages in more broad campaigns such as Responsible Gaming Education Month.
RGEM takes place in September this year - coinciding with the NFL kickoff - and was expanded from a week to a month to reinforce AGA and its partners’ commitment to responsibility.
The month makes up just one part of the AGA’s plans for the rest of 2022, which aims to raise the standards of RG across the US to ensure that players are equipped with the tools to avoid slipping into problem gambling.
Summarising some of the AGA and the Have A Game Plan campaign’s plans and aims for the rest of 2022, DeBaun concluded: “Broadly for Have A Game Plan, it's a rising tide that lifts all boats, so we want to continue to expand the partners we have engaged with the campaign so we can reach more fans about responsible gaming education. We are evolving the tools and resources we have available for our partners.” •
ROSS FRUIN: IS F1 THE NEXT DRIVING FORCE FOR BETTING ENGAGEMENT?
FORMULA 1 HAS
CULTIVATED a new youthful audience in the United States, but motorsport remains undervalued as a betting commodity, writes GridRivel CEO and Founder Ross Fruin
BY TED ORME-CLAYE
Six years ago, the world’s most popular motorsport series found itself at a low ebb. After dominating on a global scale since the 1950s, Formula 1 lost 40% of its global viewership between 2008 and 2016 (per Statista).
Many factors led to the downturn in fortunes for the open-wheel racing behemoth. It downgraded its engines from high-revving V8s to less appealing V6 hybrids, the dominance of Red Bull and Mercedes made the championship title race a procession, and the series failed to embrace the opportunities that social media presented in attracting a new user base. As a result, 200 million fans worldwide switched off.
At that point, Liberty Media, operated by US cable TV mogul John Malone, stepped in and acquired Formula 1 for $8bn. Liberty Media’s mission was to hit the gas pedal on a sport that had been riding the clutch for far too long. Thanks to key changes made on and off the track, the sport is hitting top gear once again.
In a bid to make the on-track product more appealing, changes to cars have been made to encourage overtaking. With seven races of the 2022 season completed at the time of writing, there have already been three different race winners and four different drivers on pole.
Identifying former owner Bernie Ecclestone’s reticence to attract a younger audience, Liberty focused on bringing the sport into the digital age. Just as the NBA employed a
liberal attitude to sharing highlights on social media, Formula 1 relaxed its tight grip on its footage to encourage engagement.
As a result, Formula 1 experienced 99% growth in year-on-year social engagement between 2019 and 2020 (per The Financial Times). In the same period, the Premier League — the biggest league in the world’s most popular sport — achieved just 3% growth.
Formula 1 further widened its appeal in 2018 with the launch of the Netflix documentary series Drive To Survive. The hit series, initially met with resistance by some teams, has, according to The Guardian, featured in Netflix’s Top 10 lists in 56 different countries. It is widely credited with bringing a new level of attention to the sport and recently earned a commission for two further seasons.
Liberty’s biggest success, however, has arguably been its expansion into new markets — specifically, the United States. The world’s most lucrative sports market was given a second race on the calendar in 2022, with a starstudded event at the inaugural Miami Grand Prix.
Next season, a third US race will be added to the calendar in Las Vegas, marking the series’ return to the Nevada desert for the first time since 1982 (and representing a timely opportunity for synergy with sports betting). New York mayor Eric Adams, meanwhile, has made it clear he wishes to add a fourth US race to the schedule in the Big Apple.
The Miami Grand Prix, broadcast on ABC’s main cable channel, achieved an average viewership of 2.6 million, marking the sport’s biggest-ever US broadcast (per Sports Pro Media).
The average viewership for the series in the United States has doubled in the last five years.
Next year, the United States will boast more Formula 1 races than any other nation and, despite the financial hit of the pandemic and the cancellation of the Russian Grand Prix, Liberty Media has created a tremendous return on its investment.
The burgeoning US gaming industry has a tremendous opportunity to capitalise on this growth, and the platform to put motorsports at the forefront of sports betting. In May, Maine became the 34th state to legalise sports betting; it is easy to see the strong correlation between the rise of motorsports and the gaming gold rush in the United States.
It must also be noted that many other racing series have started to adopt and adapt F1's digital-first playbook to engage a new generation of fans. NASCAR, Indycar, MotoGP and Formula E each attract millions of viewers and are poised to go through similar growth in the coming years.
However, most motorsports series remain tremendously undervalued betting commodities in the US — and with the exception of NASCAR, the race series themselves have not sufficiently addressed the opportunity.
Around the time of the Formula 1 takeover deal, Liberty Media CEO and President Greg Maffei acknowledged that motorsport fans are not adequately catered for in terms of sports betting.
“There’s an enormous amount of video feed and data about the races that we are already capturing that we are not in any way processing incrementally for the dedicated fan, or opportunities around things like gambling,” said Maffei in an interview with Reuters.
Despite this acknowledgement, much of the sport’s proprietary data remains under wraps. This limits the amount of betting markets that traders can produce and hinders the bettor in making more informed choices.
The demands of modelling motorsport data sets and gamifying them is more complex and nuanced than for most sports, not to mention the variables of format changes which take place season-by-season, necessitating regular adjustments to these models.
A typical soccer game will boast dozens of markets on any given operator, from goalscorers to the amount of corners being taken. Conversely, many of the major betting sites provide a much more limited offering around a Formula 1 event, with most markets restricted to outrights on qualifying and race winner, coupled to restrictive podium-place terms. (The rapper Drake reportedly lost $230,000 by backing a driver who failed to top the podium at the Spanish Grand Prix last month. Perhaps he would have exercised more nuance with a greater amount of market options?)
In 2018, Liberty Media agreed a $100m deal with data rights partner Interregional Sports Group (ISG) to enable the development of live inplay betting at Grands Prix. Formula 1 has subsequently brokered betting partnership deals in Europe and Asia, but in-play betting and gaming opportunities remain absent in the United States.
Currently, the lack of an existing large handle appears to make operators hesitant to prioritise motorsport at the level necessary to create engaging markets and promote them to the racing community.
With more trackside sponsorship in the United States, a pursuit of customers through digital and social channels, and a full exploitation of the data-rights deal with ISG, it is possible
that the US could redress the balance with more mature markets.
The incredible rise of Formula 1 under the stewardship of Liberty Media is a case study in the successful revival of a brand. The targeted manner in which it has sought a younger audience also speaks to a robust and long-term market for bookmakers.
It is imperative, therefore, that the betting industry tracks the sport’s growth, and that the racing leagues themselves help assist with this process.
GridRival, a gaming startup focused uniquely on racing, was founded in response to the lack of opportunities in the market for motorsports fans. It has already attracted a user base of around 200,000 for its season-long leagues product and plans to parlay this success into its first real-money gaming product this summer. The growth gives credence to the notion that race fans are looking for something authentic to the sports they admire most.
With global viewership surpassing one billion each year, the potential betting appeal for motorsports is palpable. Based on GridRival user data, over half of motorsports fans consider themselves either mostly or
exclusively race fans. This unique level of loyalty and engagement presents its own opportunities and emphasises the need for a motorsports-exclusive product.
Furthermore, nearly a quarter of the Formula 1 calendar now takes place in North America, with the aforementioned extra race to be added next season. The growth opportunities in the United States are clear, and it is incumbent upon the motorsports series to work closely with the betting industry to fully address this potential. •
ON THE MOVE: BETTING AND GAMING’S MOVERS AND SHAKERS
WITH COMINGS AND GOINGS commonplace across the betting and gaming industry, we take a look at some of the movers and shakers over the last few months.
Strive Gaming
Andrew Holmes has been named as the new Chief Operating Officer of North American igaming platform Strive Gaming.
Joining from TwinSpires, where he served as Vice President of Product, Holmes will be tasked with playing a key role in developing Strive’s real money online casino platform while preparing for future regulatory changes across the US and Canada.
Max Meltzer, CEO of Strive Gaming, said: “Andrew’s blend of experience across multiple industries such as gaming and finance – where he has worked on everything from unicornlarge business to small and mid-level business – plus his involvement in product and operations roles at C-level has convinced me he’ll be an ideal fit for this role.”
Boom Entertainment
Boom Entertainment has strengthened its C-level leadership team after confirming the appointment of Zack Messer as Chief Financial Officer.
In his new role, Messer will elevate the financial performance of the firm as it looks to exploit fresh
opportunities in the US’ online gambling and daily fantasy sports markets.
“The growth opportunities at Boom are unprecedented and it’s the right time to bring in a seasoned financial strategist,” noted Stephen Murphy, Co-Founder and CEO of Boom Entertainment.
“Zack fits the CFO role perfectly, having spent 14 years in gaming and holding a variety of strategic finance roles at IGT, Pinnacle Entertainment and most recently Scientific Games as its Head of Finance for gaming operations.”
Game Play Network
Ian Smith has been appointed as Chief Technology Officer at Games Play Network, as the Los Angelesbased real money gaming platform aims to reach its “next ambitious stage”.
In this role, Smith will be charged with driving product expansion,
technological innovation and platform scalability to support GPN’s integration of its patented technology within its B2B customer network.
“We are excited to welcome Ian to the GPN team,” said Russell Fine, President of GPN. “He is an experienced igaming innovator that is perfectly positioned to take GPN’s first-of-its-kind igaming platform into its next stage of commercialisation.
“Ian’s leadership will accelerate growth, expand the company’s footprint and create exciting new player experiences.”
Kindbridge
Brianne Doura-Schawohl, Eric Kussin, and Seth Young all joined gambling harm teletherapy support specialist Kindbridge as its three new board members.
Kindbridge is on a mission to become “an integral part of the consumer protection system for gambling,” and the appointments of Doura-Schawohl, Kussin, and Young – who are all experienced in mental health and combating gambling addiction – support that goal.
Doura-Schawohl said: “This is a very exciting opportunity to make a big impact on a space that has been calling out for support for years. A telehealth solution that organises care and access that works with largescale corporations and distribution partners to get the message out there about the necessity to manage mental health in the gambling space is a huge victory that is long overdue.” •
JACOB FORTINSKY: REMOVING THE VIG
NOVIG, AN AMBITIOUS BETTING EXCHANGE
STARTUP, has its sights set firmly on disrupting the sports betting arena. After receiving the backing of Y Combinator, SBC Leaders sat down with CEO Jacob Fortinsky to discover how its commission-free offer will change the playing field
BY ERIN GALLAGHER
SBC: Congratulations on receiving the backing of Y Combinator, a prestigious startup accelerator program. How important is joining this program in the overall development of Novig?
JF: We’re very excited to have the backing of such a renowned startup incubator which has a wealth of experience scaling startups into unicorns like Airbnb, Coinbase, Doordash, Dropbox and many more. They share our vision for transforming the sports betting industry, and they’ll help us accelerate turning the vision into a reality.
By joining the program, we receive many benefits, such as access to their pool of top Silicon Valley talent, mentorship from some of the most successful investors and technologists and participation in a cohort with founders of other high-growth startups.
SBC: Talk us through the product offering, what can we expect from your betting exchange?
JF: Our core product offering is our high frequency sports trading exchange that lets users bet directly against friends or the market in a peer-to-peer network. This will make the sports betting experience a lot
more engaging, more efficient, and most importantly, more profitable.
As our name suggests, we are eliminating the vig that sportsbooks traditionally take as a profit, allowing us to guarantee that our platform will consistently offer the best lines.
SBC: Could you give us an insight into why Novig was established and your overall aspirations?
JF: My cofounder Kelechi and I started Novig with the conviction that the exploitative and outdated sports betting industry will eventually
virtually impossible to find any edge. For those who are skilled enough to make money betting, they inevitably face strict limits, are removed from sportsbooks, or are even refused payouts. Given our experience not only as sports bettors, but also as professionals in fintech and quant trading, we thought we could
converge toward the more efficient exchange model. I used to be an avid sports bettor before I grew dissatisfied by the discriminatory practices, inefficiency, and staleness of the traditional sports betting experience. Kelechi saw the blatant inefficiencies of the industry from a purely technical perspective, coming from professional experience at some top quant shops.
As it stands today, there are effectively no casual sports bettors who are long-run profitable. Traditional sportsbooks skim an average of 7-8% of their total betting volume, making it
develop a market-based solution to deliver the first commission-free sports betting platform.
I think the public perception of sports betting will slowly evolve to be more like poker, as people begin to treat it more a game of skill than chance. As the American market matures and becomes more competitive, we envision ourselves emerging as the dominant venue for all liquidity in the sports betting space. We believe that our platform can offer the best lines in all markets — from money lines and spreads to in-game betting and futures markets.
SBC: What is Novig’s target audience, and why do you feel these kinds of bettors will resonate with your core offering?
JF: Broadly speaking, I think there are two categories of bettors that have something to gain from Novig’s unique model. There’s the casual bettor who seeks better lines and a novel in-game betting experience that combines traditional gaming and real-time trading. They want to play a game that isn’t rigged against them, and they’re rightfully fed up with the exploitative nature of the traditional betting model where the house always wins.
And then there’s the sharp bettor, who plays game theory optimal poker, trades stocks and crypto, and isn’t afraid to crunch some numbers to find an edge. These are the players who shop lines across different books and might even use sophisticated hedging and arbing strategies. There’s no platform for these players to make their own markets or deploy their own trading strategies without being restricted or blacklisted by the books. Ultimately, that’s exactly what we’re offering: a level playing field for casuals and sharps alike, where the house doesn’t play and it’s anyone’s game.
SBC: What makes Novig’s proposition unique compared to other exchanges that are looking to launch in the US?
JF: We’ll be the only exchange to offer commission-free betting. For the average bettor, we won’t take a cent of their bets, which cannot be said for any of the competitors as far as I’m aware. We believe there will be a race to the bottom in terms of the vig that sportsbooks are charging, but we’re starting at zero, allowing us to undercut our competitors.
As a result, we will attract the most liquidity because we will be the platform with the most competitive markets and highest concentration of profitable users. We’re traders at our core who know how to build a product
to serve the needs of casual sports bettors and sharp algo traders alike. We’re confident that Novig will stand out for both its unique model and technical innovation.
SBC: We are yet to see a betting exchange go live in the US, why is this the case? How is regulation progressing to accommodate more exchange launches?
JF: It’s a complicated marketplace. Since the repeal of PASPA, mobile sports betting is now legal in half of the states, but states are currently only regulating traditional sportsbooks, which are simpler to regulate than exchanges. Consequently, to get approved in a given state, we have to educate the regulators as to how our innovative product functions and work alongside them while they develop a
THE COMPANIES WITH THE SIMPLEST VALUE PROPOSITION HAVE THE EASIEST MARKETING STRATEGY THAT’S EXACTLY WHAT WE’RE OFFERING: A LEVEL PLAYING FIELD FOR CASUALS AND SHARPS ALIKE
regulatory framework for exchanges, which takes time. Unlike traditional sportsbooks who trade against their users, we do not have any action in the underlying sports events. Users’ bets are filled by other users on the exchange, who can be casual sports bettors or financial institutions. We also don’t fix lines in the way that traditional sportsbooks do, but rather we let the market determine the fair odds. These are just two of the unique regulatory questions that arise with the introduction of betting exchanges.
There are a couple of commissionbased betting exchanges that are looking to launch in New Jersey imminently, and we’re rooting for them. If their launch is seamless and successful, it would only accelerate adoption by other states once they realise the tremendous benefits of approving exchanges.
Over the next few years, we anticipate that exchanges will dominate the sports betting landscape. Customer acquisition costs of traditional sportsbooks are skyrocketing at a rate that is simply unsustainable. The primary reason why these costs are so high is that sportsbooks are not offering any differentiation, and therefore have to spend millions on sign-up offers and promos. Our product is innovative and will be strictly better for all sports bettors, which will allow us to acquire customers a lot more easily.
SBC: Can you give us an indication of your marketing strategy and how you will attract new customers?
JF: The companies with the simplest value proposition have the easiest marketing strategy. Our message is clear: we will offer the best lines with zero commission – no catch. We won’t have to rely on over-the-top media blitzes and silly gimmicks. The message of “we want you to win, they want you to lose” is something we are confident will resonate with both existing and prospective sports bettors. •
NICK NALLY: POWERING THE SPREAD OF ONLINE GAMING IN THE US
THE MANAGING DIRECTOR
FOR AMERICAS outlines the reasons why Continent 8 Technologies is so committed to the US before shedding some light on the company’s plans for the post-PASPA market in 2022
BY ERIN GALLAGHER
SBC: Your plans for the North American market are clearly ambitious. Can you tell us more about them and why you are so committed to the region?
NN: North America is undoubtedly one of the largest regulated online gambling markets in the world. Over the past 12 months alone, we have seen a wave of states embrace regulation and roll out their own regulatory frameworks. This is not only in the US but also in Canada where provinces like Ontario have made the headlines with their recent launch of a regulated igaming market.
Due to the scale and scope of the market, it is high on the agenda of the vast majority of our customers. As the leading provider of managed hosting,
connectivity, cloud and security solutions to the global igaming industry, we wanted to ensure that we could support our operators from day one of any state or province opening.
This first-to-market approach has seen us be chosen by a vast majority of the biggest names in the US online sports betting and igaming market. In fact, we now serve well over 80% of the top 20 biggest and most dominant operators in the US market (according to the EGR US Power Rankings).
SBC: How are you helping operators and suppliers enter US states as and when they open their doors to legal online gambling?
NN: It starts with ensuring that Continent 8 has the necessary
approvals to launch in each state that goes live. To date, we are up and running in 24 US regulated markets with more set to go live over the coming months. To do this, we take a proactive role with regulators from a very early stage to not only understand the requirements they will likely require us to meet, but to also share our understanding and experience from an infrastructure perspective to help guide their frameworks. This has allowed us to offer unrivalled levels of support to our customers.
Take New Jersey, for example. Our Atlantic City data centre – housed in the Atlantic City Convention Centre – offers a unique, independent hosting site, compliant with international security standards with multi-state connectivity across the US and directly into a global, private network of 85+ locations around the world. Not only that, but it is fully compliant with DGE regulations and is the only licensed facility that can house gaming infrastructure outside of a licensed casino. We are now in the final stages of completing the stage three expansion of this site, adding 30% more capacity.
Of course, we are also taking steps to position Continent 8 as a leader in other US states such as Pennsylvania where we have recently been given the green light by the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board to launch our Public Gaming Cloud; the first regulated offering of its kind in the state.
SBC: Can you tell us more about your cloud solution?
NN: Our Public Cloud platform offers customers a multi-tenanted, scalable and resilient IaaS platform that allows them to host infrastructure as virtual machines. Key features of the platform include a self-service portal with template-based provisioning, feature-rich Edge devices, the ability to integrate with Continent 8’s Co-Location, MPLS network and Cloud Connect services, plus DDoS protection and other cyber security safeguards.
A key benefit to customers using the cloud is that it removes the need for ongoing hardware investment which in turn provides the flexibility to pay for resources based on consumption. We also fully manage the cloud environment, removing the need for customers to maintain and support
infrastructure. Instead, they can focus on growing their business.
SBC: You recently launched your Public Cloud in Ontario. Do you believe that Canada offers just as much potential as the US when it comes to regulated online gambling?
NN: Canada certainly forms a very important part of our plans for North America and again we are taking a first-to-market approach here. In terms of potential, you just have to look at the reaction to Ontario opening its doors to see that there is a huge appetite among operators and suppliers to get in on the action as Ontario will likely be a catalyst for other provinces doing the same – as we saw in the US with New Jersey. To meet this demand for market entry, we recently launched our Public Cloud solution in Ontario.
SBC: You mentioned that you would be launching in additional US states this year. Where is next and how do you determine which states to enter and when?
NN: We have an aggressive roadmap and we closely monitor which markets are set to regulate next. We recently
went live in Ohio and Kansas and our intentions are to launch in Florida, Massachusetts, Nevada and North Carolina in the coming months. In addition, we have been busy setting up disaster recovery locations across a number of US states. Our first-to-market approach is an ambitious one but we know that it’s important for our customers to be ready for launch when a state or province goes live. They know that in Continent 8 they have an infrastructure partner that can support them in any location they need. It’s because of our flexible and agile nature that we can facilitate this rapid and evolving landscape.
SBC: Continent 8 recently made the headlines with the launch of its innovative Gaming Exchange. What is it and how does it benefit operators and suppliers?
NN: The Continent 8 Gaming Exchange is a powerful private internet and an exclusive community exchange for igaming businesses. It allows our customers to connect faster and more securely than over the standard internet, but also directly to one another. This is done via a VPN across our backbone network. It provides unrivalled levels of security by being out of the reach of DDoS attacks. That it can be accessed without the need for additional configuration is another big upside.
In addition, customers connected via the Gaming Exchange will gain access to a Premium Portal, an analytical dashboard that allows them to view and monitor traffic flows within and outside of Continent 8 to other gaming partners.
We will be showcasing the Gaming Exchange alongside our full suite of solutions at the SBC Summit North America next month so make sure to stop by Booth 221 to meet our team and learn more. •
AGCO’S DOUG HOOD: SHAPING THE REGULATORY FUTURE FOR ONTARIO IGAMING
WITH THE WRAPS BARELY OFF THE ONTARIO MARKET, we get the views of one of its senior regulatory figures on the role that the Alcohol And Gaming Commission Of Ontario (AGCO) will play in creating a sector that is accessible, fair and safe for all
BY CHRIS MURPHY
In a bid to get a ‘regulator’s eye view’ of the nascent Ontario sports betting and igaming market, SBC Leaders spoke with Doug Hood, Sports Betting Project Director at the Alcohol And Gaming Commission Of Ontario (AGCO).
A lawyer by training, Hood is responsible for developing and setting the overall strategic approach and implementation plan for the AGCO’s expanded sports betting mandate and regulatory framework.
He has also worked previously
with the AGCO Board to create the vision and set the foundation for a new subsidiary that will deliver an innovative approach to the conduct and management of a competitive and regulated internet gaming market in Ontario.
Opening up on the topic of all things Ontario and gaming, Hood stated: “Thanks for the chance to discuss what has been an exciting year for the regulated sports betting industry in Ontario, both online and in the landbased world.
“With the passage of Bill C-218 and the legalisation of single-event sports betting in the summer of 2021, combined with the launch of the regulated internet gaming market on April 4, 2022, a large new menu of sports betting offerings have been unlocked for Ontario players and their introduction to Ontario accelerated.
“As the regulator for all areas of gaming in Ontario, the AGCO has an
A brief introduction
Hood is the Project Director for Sports Betting at the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO), an arm’s length regulatory agency overseeing the province’s gaming, alcohol and horse racing industries. In this role, he is responsible for developing and setting the overall strategic approach and implementation plan for the AGCO’s expanded sports betting mandate and regulatory framework.
Since joining the AGCO, he has served in a number of diverse and escalating roles including in Strategy and Policy, Legal Services, Operations, Corporate Services, and Communications and Corporate Affairs. He coled the successful merger of the Ontario Racing Commission with the AGCO, has played a key role in the AGCO’s transition towards risk-based, outcomes-based, and compliance-focused regulation, and led the establishment of the policy development, strategic planning and data analytics capacities at the AGCO.
Hood received his Bachelor of Laws from the University of Western Ontario, graduating with distinction, and his Honours Bachelor of Arts in Political Science (minor in History) from Wilfrid Laurier University.
important role to play in the regulation of these new sports betting offerings as they become available in the province, whether through traditional channels, such as casinos or lottery products, or within the new internet gaming market.”
While it is still a case of relatively early days for Ontario, Hood believes that the jurisdiction has already made significant progress in migrating players towards regulated products. “The recent launch of Ontario’s internet gaming market has clearly been a success to date, including the sports betting component,” he said.
“One of the key objectives behind the new igaming market is to bring sites Ontario players are already gambling on under regulation so that they can be held to high standards of responsible gambling, player protection and game integrity.
“From a sports betting perspective, this meant creating a broad and outcomes-based framework that would capture the products that are important to Ontario players, including
traditional sports, esports, novelty, betting exchange, and fantasy sports products and cover various bet types, including in-game, pool, parlay and exchange bets.”
That, advised Hood, has simultaneously created the need to establish specific sports betting standards which require effective responsible gaming protections. In turn, he said, these help to ensure the integrity of the betting markets against activities such as insider betting or game manipulation.
According to Hood, there are four main tenets that operators must respect. The first of those is a requirement to actively monitor the betting markets for suspicious betting activity. Secondly, they should engage
AS THE REGULATOR FOR ALL AREAS OF GAMING IN ONTARIO, THE AGCO HAS AN IMPORTANT ROLE TO PLAY IN THE REGULATION OF THESE NEW SPORTS BETTING OFFERING
independent integrity monitors (IIMs) who receive, assess and distribute unusual/suspicious betting alerts in accordance with the registrar’s standards.
Third on that list is the prohibition of insiders, including coaches, athletes and referees, from betting on certain events. Lastly, operators should be ensuring that sport and event offerings meet acceptable betting criteria and are not objectionable.
He explained: “The same basic framework for regulating sports betting established for internet gaming has been mirrored in the casino and lottery sectors, with some minor modifications made to reflect sector realities, and this overall framework has been wellreceived both by industry and sports integrity advocates alike.
“For example, the International Betting Integrity Association has indicated that they would like to see the Ontario model applied in other jurisdictions moving forward.”
According to Hood, however, for this approach to be effective in practice, the AGCO needs to ensure that operators and suppliers are meeting its standards through effective compliance oversight.
While the AGCO aims to operate as an ‘arm’s length regulatory agency’, the Project Director is unambiguous about its capacity to act with apropriate force when necessary. “Our compliance approach involves working collaboratively with industry to maintain or, if necessary, re-establish compliance.
“Where regulatory expectations are not met, the AGCO may use a full spectrum of compliance responses to achieve those goals, including education, warnings, financial penalties, suspensions, and, in the most serious cases, revocations.
“In cases where severe incidents occur, the AGCO will act proportionately to ensure the public is protected. For example, the AGCO has recently issued notices of monetary penalties to online operators in relation to certain advertisements.”
On a more conciliatory note, he added: “That said – this is a brand new market – the first of its kind in Canada. We are, therefore, prepared to be nimble and are actively listening to feedback from a broad range of stakeholders.”
At the time of going to press, Hood was in final preparation for a panel appearance at this year’s Canadian Gaming Summit in Toronto where he was scheduled to discuss the AGCO’s regulatory approach and some of the lessons to be learned from other parts of the world.
He noted: “Beyond compliance, protecting the sports betting markets will require us to work globally and develop strong relationships with other regulators, law enforcement and sports integrity advocates so that we can share best practices and learn from each other. In the end, such discussions may lead us to refine our sports betting regulatory framework but, for the time being, we feel like we have landed in a good place here in Ontario.” •
WHY PHOTOGRAPHY’S LOSS HAS BEEN SPORTS BETTING’S GAIN
AS SHE PREPARES TO BE INDUCTED into the Sports Betting Hall of Fame, Sandy Drozd reflects on an “interesting career” that started with a part-time job during college and grew into her becoming one of the industry’s leading technology experts
BY MARTYN ELLIOTT
While most people who choose a career in sports betting are motivated by their love of sports, the story of how Sandy Drozd started is very different. During more than 30 years in the industry, she has travelled the world and helped to implement a host of important technological changes, but the wagering business was not originally in her plans.
“It's been an unexpected career choice. The truth is I was an art major, art and communications, and I had no intention of going into this industry at all. I wanted to be a photographer,” recalled Drozd, now VP Special Projects for Elys Game Technology’s USBookmaking operation.
“I was at University here in Las Vegas and, as soon as I turned 21, I took a job working in a sportsbook doing auditing. It was just a part-time thing, but I had a knack for it and I just seemed to really blend with my co-workers and really enjoyed what I was doing.”
Given how quickly Drozd’s career took off and the industry-changing projects she was soon trusted to manage, the phrase “had a knack
for it” is an understatement. The first of those major projects was the introduction of computerised sports wagering at the Marina Hotel & Casino.
“I was only 22 and they asked me to come over, set up their audit department and then help them bring the system through the approval regulatory process. And that's really how it all started,” she recalled. “I jumped right in from an auditing perspective and, as a result of that, I had to really drill into the technology, the reporting and the regulatory process.
“I also had to work closely with the platform provider, which was Autotote, a totaliser system providing software to all of the race tracks. What they wanted to do was convert it to sports betting and, as a result, it took over a year. But I was able to really connect with regulators, learn the industry, get an introduction into technology and successfully get the system approved.
“From there, while still going to school, I moved on to Caesars Palace, which wanted to do the same thing. That's really how I started, by setting up audit divisions, bringing these systems through the regulators, and then moving on to the next property.”
After graduating, Drozd opted not to pursue her chosen major and instead focused on a career that “sort of fell in my lap” and “just snowballed”. A series of consultancy roles for Nevada and Mexico-based sportsbooks and racetracks followed, during which time she met such industry stalwarts as fellow Hall of Famers Roxy Roxborough and Vic Salerno.
In 1997, the connection with Salerno led to a job with American Wagering and the opportunity to work on projects that changed the face of the industry, helping to move it towards mobile betting and in-person selfservice solutions.
Magic Moment
I'm very passionate about animals and was able to put that to good use when I was working in consulting for a company that was out of El Paso.
They had this horse and dog track in Juarez, Mexico. Unfortunately, when the greyhounds were racing there, they were either at the beginning or the end of their careers. And when they were at the end of their career, quite often they would be put down rather than adopted.
It was quite cruel how they were treating them and once I became aware of that, I worked with the Greyhound Association in Arizona to create a process where those dogs would be adopted, as opposed to being put down.
Although they were treated fine in the kennels, the thought that they were coming there to be put down because of whatever business dealings were happening was awful. I was able to save the lives of many, many dogs and put them out for adoption. That, to me, was a huge, huge thing - I feel really good about that.
In addition to that, we organised a hot air balloon festival at the racetrack in Juarez to raise funds for the greyhounds. The event was quite amazing and we had a real carnival atmosphere for all the families that came, at the same time as raising money to save animals. That’s probably the biggest highlight of my career.
“Vic was such a visionary at that time. He was way beyond where technology in the industry really was,” Drozd explained. “We provided software to every book in Las Vegas - the Mirage, Caesars, all of the big main locations, in addition to our own - but sometimes there was resistance to change and to new things. It was hard sometimes to push people to the next level to say, ‘Hey, this is going to be really great. This is the way of the future’.”
At a time when remote betting
involved a phone call to the sportsbook and a room full of ticket writers taking wagers, the idea of mobile betting seemed far-fetched to many. However, the American Wagering team, with Drozd directly involved in product development, eventually managed to convince its customers and the Nevada Gaming Control Board of its benefits.
The available technology functioned very differently to the slick systems of today, with the earliest incarnation running on a BlackBerry and requiring a five-minute log-in process that involved a series of camera flashes and phone vibrations to help verify that the user was in Nevada. The system later evolved to work on iPhones and Android devices, and mobile wagering was born.
Drozd said: “That was really big for us because nobody was offering sports betting on a mobile device at that time, so it was quite revolutionary. I was really happy to be part of that and to be working with the tech
team to develop the product’s user experience, understand what the technology could do for us and how we could take it to the next level.”
She was also instrumental in the introduction of self-service betting terminals at casino sportsbooks. Again, the first iterations were far removed from what bettors see today, with huge kiosks that employed early facial recognition technology to allow account holders to log-in.
“One of the kiosks we had was so big and clunky that when we were trying to sell it to the Mirage, (the casino’s Director of Administration and Hall of Fame member) Yolanda Acuña used to refer to it as Rosie because it reminded her of the robotic housekeeper in The Jetsons,” said Drozd.
The objections were not merely about aesthetics though, as casino employees worried that they would lose their jobs to the new technology. Eventually, American Wagering was able to persuade people that the kiosks were an enhancement for sportsbooks rather than a way of cutting payroll costs, and they became widely adopted.
Once American Wagering had been acquired by William Hill in 2012, Drozd focused on product development and honing delivery methodology. Her skillset was hugely important to the company once PASPA was overturned and companies raced to be first to launch in new states as they opened up legal sports betting.
“I worked very closely with (former William Hill US CEO and Hall of Famer) Joe Asher and we were among the first to market in New Jersey,” she recalled. “From there, we just moved from state to state, always doing the regulatory piece and product at the same time, which was so exciting as I never thought that sports betting would ever go outside of Nevada.”
That “regulatory piece” has often involved seeking approval for new products, something that Drozd has consistently achieved throughout her career. She attributes this success to an ability to form strong relationships with regulators’ technology chiefs, from Travis Foley and Jim Barbee in Nevada to managers in newer jurisdictions as they went live.
“It’s important to have processes in place even though, at times, they can feel like blockers to progress. But establishing open and transparent relationships with regulators is the way forward, as in the end, we all want the same thing - a safe market for our customers that generates revenue for states,” said Drozd.
In 2019, Drozd joined Wynn Resorts and played a key role in the launch of WynnBET in seven states, before linking up again with Salerno at USBookmaking earlier this year.
So 30 years into a storied career in an industry she fell into, is Drozd thinking about finally getting that photography job?
“I don't think so right now. I've missed it but I'm not sure it would have been as exciting as the sports betting industry has been for me.” •
