Success Stories: iGaming - June 2021

In success stories, we profile some of the key stories in iGaming this month, focusing on areas of growth, resilience and innovation.

This month’s snapshot features big earnings from the States and the Mediterranean, a British bingo celebration and one operators’ approach to tribal casino.

Surfin’ USA

Riding a wave of profitability, multiple US States report record-breaking success

Among many notable winners this month,  Colorado has experienced a rapid return to previous growth levels. Reports released show that NBA Playoffs generated nearly $250m in May. $8m was wagered daily, both online and in-property, according to the Colorado Division of Gaming.

Tennessee has broken its own gaming records, surpassing all previous figures to hit $2bn in annual revenue. The Tennessee Education Lottery (TEL) had its best ever Q1 after bringing in $498.2m in revenue, a 17% increase year-on-year. After this stellar beginning TEL went on to smash its Q2 record too with sales of $399.5m in instant games.

With the US opening up to online sports betting, many states are looking to ride the wave of profitability sweeping the industry. With Ohio passing Sports Betting into law mid-June Massachusetts and Missouri are the next states to watch according to US Betting Report.

European Rebounds

Surging Italian betting and Spanish online revenue signs of European recovery.

After an unseasonal dip in activity, Italian sports betting rebounded nearly 50% as the football season drew to a close. Revenue rose to €328.5m last month, 94% up on last year’s pandemic-dampened season.

Spanish online gambling revenue has jumped 10% year-on-year with online casino activity rising 28% during Q1. Total online revenue was €240.08m with sports betting and online casino holding roughly even market share, at 45.9% and 41.4% respectively.

With the European Football Championship ongoing until early July, the odds for European operators’ rebound to success this summer are looking increasingly favourable.

National Bingo Day! 

Britain hails a popular pastime with a day of celebration on 27 June

Yes, really! Bingo has long been a popular British pastime, with more money spent on Bingo than on all footballing events combined. Promoted by onlinebingo.co.uk among others, National Bingo Day  on 27 June shared insights into this £910m industry and celebrated its cultural contribution.

Bingo halls traditionally served as meeting hubs for fun and socialising and with player count as high as 1 in 5 in Scotland, a bingo hall might have been second only to the pub. With the advent of online gambling this now takes place both on- and offline, with the online player base growing to over 3.5 million.

Crypto Casino

SoftSwiss CEO shares insights on creating a stable bitcoin operation.

The crypto boom continues apace, and smart casino operators were quick to capitalise. According to Ivan Montik, CEO of SoftSwiss, “we were the first to introduce an online bitcoin casino to the market. Today, during the real bitcoin boom, we have a stable solution to satisfy growing demand.”

In an interview with Gambling Insider, Montik suggests that technical innovation can be even more important than industry expertise in today’s iGaming world.

Around 4% of all online search demand in online gambling is crypto-oriented showing players are increasingly looking for better payment alternatives.

Tribal Heroes

Working with local heroes to sustain growth

The sportsbook technology provider Kambi has been focussing on “local heroes” to help it carve out a meaningful US market share, and aid further expansion through tribal partnerships.

In 2020, Kambi powered the launch of 11 online, and 28 on-property sportsbooks across the US. That rate of expansion “amounts to a launch every nine or ten days”, chief executive Kristian Nylén says.

At a time when the pandemic forced properties across the US to close, and accelerated the spread of sports betting regulation, Kambi’s expansion in tandem with its “local heroes” has continued at pace. Kambi believes that continuing to working closely with both tribal and commercial casinos will yield them future growth.

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