Boyd Gaming mulls social gaming launch
Operator posts online Q2 profit and says it is âkeeping an eyeâ on the social casino sector
Boyd Gamingâs real-money internet gaming platforms in New Jersey posted a fourth consecutive quarter of profit in Q2, as the operator mulls making a play in the social casino sector. [private]
The casino firm, which has a 50% stake in the Borgata in Atlantic City, said its online casino and poker business in the Garden State generated EBITDA of $1.6m for the three months ended June 30 2015.
The latest figures represent an impressive 45% quarter-on-quarter increase from Q1, when egaming generated $1.1m in EBITDA from revenues of $4m.
And speaking to investors after the operator released its financial results yesterday, Boyd Gaming CEO Keith Smith revealed that his firm had taken an interest in the social casino sector.
âSocial games and social gaming is something that we have been paying attention to,â Smith said.
âHaving a market leading position in online gaming in New Jersey weâre interested in continuing to expand that, and so weâre very interested in the social gaming aspect of it,â he added.
If the operator does make a move into the social sector it would join the likes of Mohegan Sun, who launched its Scientific Games-powered freeplay site yesterday, and Tropicana who has joined forces with Ruby Seven Studios with plans to go live with its social offering in the near future.
But Smith said Boyd Gaming would not look to make a play in the fast-growing daily fantasy sports sector due to regulatory concerns.
âWhen you listen to people talk about fantasy sports they use words like betting and making bets,â Smith said.
âSo in our view it is gambling at its core and should be regulated just like other forms of gambling, today it is not. And so thatâs kind of our view on that,â he added.