Analysis: 888 sets sights on quartet of US states
Sports betting launches in Europe also a focus for operator as chief exec Brian Mattingley insists 888 will be ready for New Jersey on day one
888 is targeting further US expansion in 2014 while also setting out plans to launch its nascent sports betting product in Spain and Italy.
Speaking to eGaming Review following the release of 888’s 2013 Q3 results, where a strong casino performance was countered by relatively flat poker revenues and bingo decline, chief executive Brain Mattingley said increasing its presence in the US was a main focus.
Highlighting Pennsylvania, New York, Illinois and California as states where he sees some regulatory movement, Mattingley said he expects 888 to enter with current US partners Wynn Resorts and World Series of Poker (WSOP).
“We’ve got a good relationship with Wynn and I think they will be keen to see other states open up and at this moment in time we have a very good relationship and I don’t see any reason why the likes of WSOP and Wynn won’t be excellent partners going into other states,” Mattingley said.
“However, I’m not holding my breath and being cautious it would be nice to think that of those four states maybe half of them will go live by the end of 2014 and possibly all of them live by the middle of 2015.”
First and foremost are 888’s planned launches in Delaware at the end of October and New Jersey one month later. Following speculation that some operators may not be ready of the 26 November launch, Mattingley insisted 888 is on schedule.
“I am in Gibraltar at the moment and we had the DGE, four officers and inspectors, over here yesterday inspecting the building, asking questions, understanding our Know Your Customer techniques and responsible gaming,” Mattingley explained.
“We had a full day with them, we’ve got all our documentation in, we’ve got our platform ready to go in for testing and have a beta test site, so we feel we are absolutely on song and ready to go.”
Also on the agenda is increasing its presence in Italy and Spain where 888 only operates a casino and poker and casino respectively. Part of this will be an aggressive marketing of its sportsbook which Mattingley said had gone through a settling in period following its partnership with Unibet-owned Kambi Sports.
The aim is to get this done ahead of the World Cup which Mattingley described as being a “really is an important opportunity” for the operator.
“The last five months we have genuinely bedded down our new partner and now’s the time to start being a little more aggressive in marketing and we feel quite confident we can actually move the business on quite considerably,” Mattingley said.
“We definitely are very, very keen to get into Spain and Italy with our sportsbook. I think having sports, poker and casino in both Italy and Spain will be a significant coup for us,” he added.
Bingo turning a corner
Mattingley said he was disappointed with the 21% decline in bingo revenue but believed recent changes made to the vertical had put it in good shape to turn its fortunes around.
During the summer, the company restructured the business, which it bought from Wink Bingo in 2009, to reflect the set-ups of both poker and casino. This led to a centralisation of a previously international bingo team in Israel while it also took 888 marketing specialist Ran Milo from casino.
“Ran was very successful in the casino area and we’ve moved him into bingo and he’s beginning to make a difference,” said Mattingley.
Mattingley, whose gaming career can be traced back to bingo, has assumed responsibility for helping Milo understand what he calls the “cultural nuances” of bingo and said growth is forecast to return to the vertical in late 2014.
“There’s no doubt about it, what we are seeing in online bingo is very similar to what we see in offline bingo and I’m helping Ran understand things like pricing points, bonuses and what customer’s expectations are, and I genuinely think we’ll start to see ourselves come back again.”
Despite its continued bingo troubles and the flatting out of its poker revenues, the former director of development and strategy at Gala Group was more than satisfied with 888’s figures.
“It’s a very strong set of results I think when compared with a lot of our competitors. I think if you look at casino, a business which is always considered to be mature, we are still driving 19% growth in revenue and 9% in active players.
“I think poker is good, we’ve seen a little bit of a slowdown in growth in revenue but in terms of our active players, that is something that we’ve really worked on and we have a 10% growth,” he said.