“ What it always comes back to , for me , is what is the improvement you ’ re gaining or the problem you ’ re solving by building this new product feature or using this new technology ?”
“ Whoever can figure out [ how to bring the Las Vegas casino experience to life ] and do it well is going to be a big winner ”
“ What it always comes back to , for me , is what is the improvement you ’ re gaining or the problem you ’ re solving by building this new product feature or using this new technology ?”
Matt Howard , OrbitalBet
“ Whoever can figure out [ how to bring the Las Vegas casino experience to life ] and do it well is going to be a big winner ”
Rich Criado , ex-Fanatics Game Studios and Penn Entertainment better than the technologies we ’ re using now ?” asks Howard .
Although blockchain promises highly secure payments and transactions , impracticalities emerge when you use it for the fast-paced world of betting . Operators process a huge number of bets within a short space of time . This places immense strain on a system that creates a new block for every transaction – not to mention demanding immense energy resources . “ Blockchain is a question that isn ’ t being asked ,” says Howard . “ It ’ s providing an answer that we haven ’ t needed in terms of sports betting as a whole . But it does solve a problem with payments .”
UNDERSTANDING CUSTOMER NEEDS
For innovators in every industry , finding the next big thing is always in tension
with meeting the consumer where they are . Although cutting-edge technologies may become popular and widespread over time , the public tends to move through phases when it comes to adopting these new trends .
In Everett Rogers ’ 1962 book , Diffusion of Innovations , the author charts five stages of technology adoption , with innovators and early adopters coming first and the late majority and laggards coming last . While innovators account for just 2.5 % of the population , the late majority and laggards make up 50 %.
For Rich Criado , former VP of product development at US-based Fanatics Game Studios and Penn Entertainment , simply understanding the customer ’ s readiness for change is the key to setting the pace of innovation .
“ In online casino there has been a lot of innovation in some areas and
ICE 2025 • ISSUE 137 • 15