Industry predictions: The best (and worst) from 2018
EGR rounds up the most prescient and the most misguided predictions from the industry last year
Predictions are hard; especially when they’re about the future. At least, that’s the old saying, often attributed to Danish physicist Niels Bohr. Regardless, over the past few years EGR has been running a series of industry predictions for the year ahead.
The 2019 series will start next week, but we thought it might be fun to look back at some of the best (and worst) from 2018.
There were plenty of predictions that the industry would need to tighten up its compliance capabilities, but RGA chief executive Clive Hawkswood looked the most prescient, writing: “2018 will be twelve months of being beasted by government, politicians, the media and assorted regulators.
“To say we are currently a soft target would be a massive understatement. The knives are being sharpened and will come out in large numbers once the outcome of the DCMS review is published. Gaming machines are front and centre in that, but advertising and wider social responsibility measures are not far behind.”
Prescient indeed.
The US was also a popular topic with many predicting PASPA would be struck down and the US market would open up. Bede Gaming chairman Joe Saumarez Smith proved himself shrewd, writing: “With the United States sports betting market opening up, the big players in that market will be looking to M&A to beef up both their operational expertise and their technology offering.”
Scientific Games buying up anyone that might know anything about sportsbook would certainly seem to bear this one out.
However there were also, inevitably, some swings and misses. Willem van Oort, the founder of Gaming in Holland, predicted “The Dutch Senate will finally pass the Remote Gaming Bill in 2018, with the first licensed operators going live in H1 2019.” That one seems a long way off still.
Elsewhere BetVictor’s Eoin Ryan wrote: “I expect that by the end of 2018, a reasonable percentage of the readers of this article will have successfully placed a bet using voice technology in part or in full.” Several bookmakers, notably Kindred have started down this route, but this counts as a miss nevertheless.
Finally, we can’t let Tim Heath escape unscathed after predicting that Bitcoin sportsbooks will start hauling in their fiat rivals. “The price has risen roughly 20-fold, but more importantly it has entered the mainstream consciousness for the first time….I expect to see bitcoin operators grab an even greater market share from traditional, fiat operators, as they continue to innovate and offer a stronger product. We will also see the continued growth of other altcoins.”
He’s arguably right of course that Bitcoin in now more widely known but its status as the future of currency seems a lot more uncertain than it did 12 months ago.
Look out for this year’s predictions starting on Monday….