eGaming Review January 2014 | Page 5

EDITORIAL TEAM Editor Tom Washington T: [phone] E: [email protected] Senior reporter Gerard Starkey T: [phone] E: [email protected] Reporter Andy Roocroft T: [phone] E: [email protected] Reporter Liam Stoker T: [phone] E: [email protected] Head of Content, Pageant Gaming Media Alun Bowden T: [phone] E: [email protected] PRODUCTION Head of production Claudia Honerjager E: [email protected] Art Director, eGR Toni Giddings E: [email protected] Sub-editors Rachel Kurzfield Eleanor Stanley Luke Tuchscherer COMMERCIAL Group commercial manager Ben Robinson T: [phone] E: [email protected] Commercial manager Sam Compagnoni T: [phone] E: [email protected] Publishing account manager Debbie Robson T: [phone] E: [email protected] Publishing account manager Jonathan Vintner T: [phone] E: [email protected] Group head of content Gwyn Roberts CEO Charlie Kerr Circulation manager Fay Muddle Content sales T: [phone] E: [email protected] eGaming Review is published monthly by Pageant Media, Thavies Inn House, 3-4 Holborn Circus, London, EC1N 2HA ISSN 1742-2450 Printed by The Manson Group © 2013 all rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or used without the prior [E D I T O R ' S LETTER ] If 2013 was the year of transition for some of the egaming sector’s big players, then 2014 is all about addressing weaknesses. Very few operators can look across their entire business and be 100% content. Common flaws at present include declining bingo and poker revenues, and there’s plenty of firms with a lot of work to do in mobile. Improvements in all these areas will take investment and many predict this need, along with the imminent point of consumption tax, will be a catalyst for M&A activity. Betfair CEO Breon Corcoran is among those widely fancied to dig into his company’s huge cash pile at some point in order to diversify. The likely targets? Any business making good money away from the UK for a start, plus successful bingo brands, perhaps. The former is borne out of not only the PoC tax, but also a realisation that entering any market organically in this day and age is very difficult and very expensive. Even if you’re bet365. To that end we’ve already seen a spike in interest in Australia and with a handful of independent bookies left over there, that could continue. A similar pattern could yet emerge in regulated European markets in the search for crucial growth. Our cover story this month (see p26) takes an in-depth look at a company perhaps least affected by changing UK regulation. Bet365 was named the industry’s most powerful operator for the fourth year running in eGR’s 2013 Power 50 list, and it remains the one to beat in almost every market. Yet the private manner in which it operates means there remains an air of curiosity surrounding bet365. Dig a little deeper, however, and it becomes altogether clearer why co-CEOs Denise and John Coates have held onto the number one spot for so long. You’ll have to read the profile to find out more. Another big winner this year was 888, which took home three awards at November’s eGR Operator Awards. It was another cracking event as always, and you can see all the winners and photographs from the night on page 60. I wish you all a Happy New Year and I hope 2014 is an eventful and profitable one. permission from the publisher 03