Q&A: Ready for battle
Lee Terfloth, director of interactive marketing at Resorts Casino, talks platforms, PokerStars, and why poaching some of the best talent in the industry will lead the operator to success
Resorts Casino was late to the New Jersey party by almost 18 months. But since launching its ResortsCasino.com offering in February with platform partner SNG Interactive, the operator has claimed a respectable 2% share of the overall market in its first full month of being live. While undoubtedly losing some of the first-mover advantage and free PR that comes with it, Resorts has been able to learn from the mistakes of others, build a quality platform, and recruit some of the best talent in the industry. [private]
But the real trick up its sleeve is its partnership with PokerStars and Full Tilt. And while PokerStars has yet to be given the green light by the New Jersey regulator, it now seems to be a matter of when rather than if it will receive approval. Unleashing the PokerStars behemoth on New Jersey will be an absolute game-changer, and will certainly put Resorts in the driving seat to cash in on the nascent market. But the PokerStars partnership is just one element of Resortsâ plans for regulated egaming in the US.
Resorts director of interactive marketing Lee Terfloth talks through the operatorâs New Jersey strategy, and why he absolutely believes they can go toe-to-toe with the market leaders.
eGR North America (eGR NA): What are your plans for ResortsCasino.com in New Jersey?
Lee Terfloth (LT): The nice thing about the online gaming space is that unlike the bricks-and-mortar world, it doesnât have to be how nice your property is or what slots machines you have. It is a level playing field and really it comes down to software. The product offering is the key differentiator, and we took our time in coming to market, which is why we have launched a year or more after everyone else.
We focused a lot on the player experience and our goal is to continue to offer the best player experience in New Jersey. That is where we are going to see a key differentiation. We are going to continue to expand on the product offering and player experience, and make sure that we take care of every customer that comes through our digital doors.
eGR NA: Can the Resorts brand go head-to-head with the likes of the Borgata and Tropicana?
LT: Can we go head-to-head with Tropicana and Borgata? We feel we absolutely can. Resorts was the first casino in Atlantic City. Our brand is well established, everybody that has gambled in Atlantic City has probably at some point been through the doors at Resorts in the last 37 years that we have been open. We have a very strong brand and name, and although we are not as big as the likes of Borgata and Tropicana, we definitely feel like our name carries some weight and we can definitely attract new customers.
Like I said, online is a level playing field. We donât have to have room for 2,000 slots machines online, we have all of the slots machines. In addition to that we have an expansive player base that we have built over the years, plus we have a prime location on the Boardwalk that gets a lot of foot traffic, especially in the summer months. So we will be able to leverage that with people who are familiar with the brand here in the state.
eGR NA: How did you build your online team?
LT: When the team was built here at Resorts, they wanted to put together the best possible team to give them the greatest chance of success. So they contacted a recruiter who put them in touch with some of the best people in the market, and they were looking to hire people who had relevant North American gaming experience. So several people from the Borgata were hired, Anton Dobrosevic [executive director of marketing] was brought in from Betfair, and we really feel that we have the best team in the New Jersey market.
eGR NA: Why did you choose SNG Interactive as your online casino platform partner?
LT: The NYX Gaming platform in Europe is arguably the best platform available â the likes of Mr Green and LeoVegas are extraordinarily successful online casinos. When we were selecting a platform we wanted the best, and it just so happened that NYX and Sportech had formed their SNG Interactive joint venture, and we were able to take advantage of that.
We have been extraordinarily happy with our platform. When we made the decision to move forward with four digit Social Security Number, a difficult process to build, our partners embraced that wholeheartedly, worked it out and got it done. We have their full commitment to tweak and optimize their platform to serve the needs of the market here in New Jersey.
eGR NA: Why have you partnered with PokerStars and Full Tilt? Do you have a âplan bâ in case they donât receive approval from the New Jersey regulator?
LT: How could you not want to be partnered with the equivalent of Coke and Pepsi? They are literally the ultimate partner and we are committed 100% to this relationship. We do not have a plan b. We will wait until they get their approval from the DGE and then we will embrace them with open arms. In terms of launching a Resorts-branded poker site, there is no need to compete against the worldâs greatest. It would be foolish. So we have full commitment to embracing PokerStars, Full Tilt, and Amaya.
eGR NA: Can you give a little insight into your marketing strategy?
LT: Our goal is not just to say that we have an online gaming site and a bricks-and-mortar casino, we want a complete gaming experience and that is why we have launched our Resorts iGaming Lounge. We wanted to create an Apple store environment. The reason that Apple stores exist is because when you walk into a Best Buy itâs hard to know the difference between a $400 Samsung laptop and a $1,500 Apple laptop, but the difference is quality.
We felt that creating this bricks-and-mortar experience would really help sell our exceptional online product and introduce it to our customers. We have hundreds of thousands of people who walk through our doors every year. We want them to come in, experience and learn about the online product so that when they go home, they know they can play on our great site.
eGR NA: How important will mobile be as the market continues to mature?
LT: 40% of our traffic even before we launched our iOS app last month was from mobile. In the United States, 50% of all internet traffic is from mobile. So in order to compete in todayâs online gaming market, mobile is a must have. It was a no-brainer for us to consider doing this. We are exceptionally happy to now have an Apple product and the industry leading number of mobile games (49), so we wanted to take advantage of that as well. We launched the site with an Android app, the only reason we didnât launch immediately with Apple is that the approval process is a little slower.
eGR NA: Are you still planning to launch a Mohegan Sun branded skin during the summer?
LT: We are planning to launch a Mohegan Sun-branded skin sometime in the early summer. We have done a number of surveys and we have found that in terms of awareness, Mohegan Sun [based in Connecticut] has a higher awareness factor in the New Jersey area than Borgata and some of the other big properties here. We think Mohegan Sun is going to be competing at the same level as Borgata, Tropicana, Golden Nugget or higher. We want to be number one and we have two exceptional brands that we feel will be competing for the top spots in New Jersey. If it came down to it, I want nothing more than to be number one and number two with myself.