32Red sensitive to US partnerships
Chief executive believes operator represents "a pretty obvious partner" for American-facing companies.
32Red is “in conversations” with potential US partners as it begins to look more closely at the market, chief executive Ed Ware has told eGaming Review.
The Gibraltar-licensed operator enjoys a favourable reputation among casino players in the United States despite withdrawing from the market in 2004, and with progress being made at state levels in particular Ware (pictured) admits the firm is “more sensitive towards the US than we have been for years”.
“In the past we’d said we’ll believe it when it happens “ even now with the Wire Act clarification and with draft legislation in California we’re not entirely sure how seriously we can take it,” he explained. “However we’re a pretty obvious partner for people from that side of the pond, and are having conversations all the time. For the first time since around 2006 we’re keeping our ears open and actively listening to what’s going on.
Earlier today eGaming Review revealed that New Jersey Senator Raymond Lesniak expects to see online gambling in the Garden State by September if an aggressive set of deadlines are met, while California Senate President Darrell Steinberg was named as a co-sponsor of a new bill introduced last month. Ware said: “California will surely be a really competitive market and looks like being poker-only “ we would love to be involved and I feel we are the sort of business that should be there.”
32Red uses software from Microgaming for its casino and poker offerings, and Ware explained that “I think Microgaming are arranging themselves so if we can get something going in the US we would not be precluded on the basis of what Microgaming has done in the past.”
A move into the US would represent 32Red’s second venture into a regulated market outside its core territory of the UK, after the operator announced today that its Italian licence application had been successful.
“We’ve got a licence for casino, poker and bingo and sports betting “ we’re cracking on with casino but we will be launching poker and bingo as soon as possible after that. I’d say later this year for other products, but casino is set to be ready from a technical perspective quite soon,” explained the CEO.
He added that the potential regulation of slots in Italy would be regarded as a “game-changer”, explaining that following the decision of Italian authorities not to tamper with the existing tax structure he could see the addition of such new products “actually helping [the government] if they want to raise more revenue from the remote gaming fraternity.
“It could potentially turn what’s already an interesting project into something more than that,” he added.
Elsewhere, 32Red has declined to apply for licences in Spain and Denmark, with Ware citing the absence of a business to protect as justification for avoiding entry, although the operator is continuing to monitor developments in the German region of Schleswig-Holstein, where 86 operators are believed to have expressed an interest.
“We’re looking at Schleswig-Holstein although we have less information about the nuances of the German market than many. Given a sensible taxation system it makes a lot of sense for any operator to consider Germany “ there’s nothing there that we’d look at and say we don’t understand how it works,” he added.