COLUMNIST
A boardroom transformation
Operators running poker brands on networks in the online poker industry face many challenges, including the splintering of liquidity, increased competition from other operators and decreased margins from operator in-?ghting. Microgaming’s Lydia Melton says things have to change. And fast.
By Lydia Melton Head of network games, Microgaming
that ensures operators are conducting business practices that promote a healthy network ecology. The ?rst meeting of the NMB took place in early November, and quarterly meetings will follow. The formation of the board is part of a larger project to transform the Microgaming Poker Network to one in which all operators contribute to the success of one another and to the network as a whole. Operators on the MPN are ?nding themselves in a new environment, one in which operators that work to acquire contributing players will receive greater revenue for those players, player valuation metrics are questioned and corrected, strict network policies are enforced, and new player acquisitions are rewarded. Aligned priorities Over the past six months the average monthly value of a player on the MPN has increased by more than 15% due to product innovation, strong network policing and the contract termination of operators who do not share in the vision of an ecologically healthy network. Further increases in player value are inevitable as additional measures to protect recreational players and extend lifetime values are put in place. Operators running poker brands on networks in the online poker industry face many challenges today, such as the current regulatory climate and subsequent splintering of liquidity, increased competition from other operators, internal priorities and resources, decreased margins from operator in-?ghting, and perceived affiliate strength within the market. Change is needed to ensure longterm pro?tability, and poker networks are the only companies able to enact that change. In the current environment, poker operator and network priorities are not necessarily aligned and operators are not in a position where they are able to steer the networks or, often, even have a say. That has to change.
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he online poker industry needs a serious shake-up. Revenues are in decline, margins are poor, networks have slowed down or even stopped software development and operators with multiple products have ceased investment in what was f