ICE North America Digital - Day 2 ICE NA Digital Event Guide - Day 2-v6 | Page 19

to 60 million-strong) esports audience placing a
bet may boost revenue, it is unclear how neatly this
audience converts to real-money wagering.
“There are a number of factors that have
contributed to the spike of esports betting and it
is hard to know which is having greater effect, and
which will last,” Balch says. “The huge interest for
FIFA and other sport simulations are likely not to
continue after the Covid-19 crisis, but we will not
know the full impact for some time.
“However, what is clear, is that the majority of
traditional sports betting activity has not suddenly
shifted to esports games like CS:GO or League of
Legends,” he adds. “Most are simply abstaining.”
SOCIALLY VIABLE
If, as Balch says, players are simply not betting on
new sports such as esports, the challenge shifts
to one of finding ways to engage and retain these
customers. This is at the core of what SportCaller
does, as digital performance director Paddy
McDermott says later on in this issue. This of
course becomes a lot more difficult without any live
sports to drive customer activity around.
Barry says that as a result of the sporting
suspensions, the supplier has been transitioning
clients to a new wave of free-to-play games and
quizzes that do not rely on live sports.
“Instead of users making predictions on, say,
Saturday’s football, they are instead testing their
knowledge on seasons past—challenging friends,
battling for bragging rights and winning prizes
along the way,” he explains. “These products are
helping our clients to engage, retain and even add
to their base during an otherwise unsettling and
unpredictable period.”
This is supported by an existing range of question-
based games, which can be tailored to any sport.
This could be on the history of the English Premier
League, or past editions of the National Collegiate
Athletics Association (NCAA) March Madness
tournament.
“Interestingly, some operators are tactically
matching their quiz games to the seasonal cycle of
now-postponed sporting tentpoles (for example,
April’s Masters golf). This strategy makes for astute
fill-the-void substitution.”
This has a secondary role, as a socially responsible
way to engage and retain players without
demanding additional spend. These games, he
continues “provide a welcome break from the
current stresses of modern life with a fun and
compelling challenge that never asks players to
fund their accounts.”
“Instead, operators can elevate engagement
and brand loyalty even when their customers are
disconnected from sports betting, so that when the
sporting calendar does recommence, their users
will follow,” Barry says.
“Now more than ever, it’s crucial to employ a lighter
marketing touch which promotes fun and online
hangtime, retaining players without cross-selling
them into other casino products in which they had
traditionally demonstrated little interest.”
Barry’s final point does raise the question: how
much is online casino benefiting from the sporting
shutdown? As O’Loughlin points out, players that
traditionally bet on sports will still be looking for
some form of real-money entertainment, and online
casino could become an attractive proposition to
these players.
Of course, actually ascertaining whether or not
casino has benefitted during the suspension of
sports is difficult with the few states that offer
igaming having yet to publish their results. One
operator, speaking off the record, suggested that
there had certainly been a significant positive
impact.
Customer acquisition had soared, they said, with
customer deposits up by a fifth, and revenue by
around 30%. While affiliates, with businesses
covering a broad array of markets around the world,
are not necessarily indicative of US trends, they
have largely avoided too significant an impact, with
the bulk of revenue coming from online casino.
Last year New Jersey’s online casino and poker
revenue reached $482.7m, a 61.6% improvement
on 2018. With these games the only products
unaffected by the pandemic, this could conceivably
jump significantly in 2020 as customers shift to the
new verticals. New Jersey’s online casino market
saw revenue grow 64.8% year-on-year in March,
to $64.8m, while Pennsylvania reported slower
growth, with revenue up 24.5% to $24.3m.
Yet it’s worth noting that currently only New Jersey,
Pennsylvania and Delaware offer online casino.
West Virginia passed legislation, but progress
towards opening the market appears to have
ground to a halt. Michigan will join the fray, and is
currently targeting a launch early next year.
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