European operators sanguine about media threat, Power 50 reveals
Leading European egaming operators including Bwin, Mangas Gaming and Unibet are unconcerned about the threat to them posed by media businesses entering the sector, new research for the eGaming Review Power 50 ranking of the industry's 50 most influential operators has uncovered.
LEADING EUROPEAN EGAMING operators including Bwin, Mangas Gaming and Unibet are unconcerned about the threat to them posed by media businesses entering the sector, new research for the eGaming Review Power 50 ranking of the industry’s 50 most influential operators has uncovered. As reported on EGRmagazine.com, two more media companies have entered the Power 50 this year, with media businesses expected to use the reach and scale to push online gaming products in newly regulated markets across the world. PartyGaming chief executive Jim Ryan recently warned that media companies pose a bigger threat to existing operators than any of their existing rivals.
However interviewed for the Power 50, Bwin co-chief executive Manfred Bodner, Mangas Gaming chief operating officer Nicolas Beraud and Unibet chief executive Petter Nylander all denied that media companies entering the egaming market posed a threat to existing operators.
Nylander (pictured) said although their entrance into the space would “have some impact, for sure”¦ there are few examples in the world where media owners are also very successful gambling operators. They are different skill sets.”
Nicolas Beraud, meanwhile, questioned whether media companies had the skills necessary to make a significant impact on the industry. Beraud said: “Traditional media have not always been able to understand and adapt to the different demands of the web audience, so I feel we can co-exist happily.
Egaming is a real and different business and it requires dedicated skills, infrastructure, teams and experience. I am not sure that all the media will want to invest enough to have a real strong and competitive offering.”
Bwin’s Manfred Bodner argued that media companies will only succeed in egaming by launching joint venture deals with existing operators, such as in the case of Bwin’s tie with French publisher Amaury Group.
“Media companies will show very mixed results,” he said. “So far we only have SkyBet as a precedent “ which is nothing to worry about, as we know. Their success or otherwise will depend on the structure media companies choose – they will fare best in pooling their core competence with that of a gaming operator. We believe our joint venture with Amaury group will demonstrate that.”