eGaming Review June 2013 | Page 3

EDITORIAL TEAM Editor Tom Washington T: [phone] E: [email protected] News editor Robin Harrison Millan T: [phone] E: [email protected] Reporter Tom Victor T: [phone] E: [email protected] Reporter Richard Weston 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 editor, eGR Toni Giddings E: [email protected] Sub-editors Rachel Kurz?eld 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 Emmanuel Nettey T: [phone] E: [email protected] [E D I T O R ' S LETTER ] 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 permission from the publisher Of all the ?nancial updates to be released in recent weeks, it was perhaps Betfair which impressed the most. That the exchange operator was able to beat analyst forecasts with its projected earnings for 2013 is testament to the job the man at the top has done since joining in August last year. CEO Breon Corcoran won’t have won many friends with the large scale cuts across the business, which, by the way, have exceeded a cost-cutting target of £20m by 50%. But with those tricky decisions out of the way, he has a healthy balance sheet to invest in growth, and possibly stave off an improved takeover bid from CVC Capital Partners. Somehow, you just expect Corcoran to spend wisely. Betfair also revealed that around 50% of all activations are now coming via mobile devices, and as our analysis starting on page 33 explores, it is this channel which will really drive growth for the operator and its competitors in the years to come. Such is the increase in smartphone usage, the industry arguably has to do very little to see the ?gure in the ‘mobile revenues’ column creep up and up. Yet as mobile sports betting continues to evolve, that rise must be matched by investment in the space – and you can ?nd out where best to spend in this month’s cover story (see p36). I was able to see ?rsthand how one operator is taking a punt on mobile, when I visited Betfred’s in-house development team in Manchester last month (see p42). They will be the ?rst to admit that their mobile portfolio is far from perfect just yet, but they have embarked on a journey towards a ‘mobile ?rst’ mentality which so many of its larger competitors have yet to do. There is still a crucial and valuable role for mobile suppliers to play here, but it is clear that getting creative and innovative mobile specialists in your business is no longer just important; it is a must. I must also mention the breakthrough across the Atlantic during May, where Ultimate Poker launched the US’s ?rst regulated real-money poker game in Nevada. While there were plenty of murmurs around glitches and teething problems, the important thing is that we have lift off, and for a lucky few the US market is up there with mobile as a huge source of growth in coming years. 03