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The long-awaited ruling ushered in a new era. European incumbents flocked to the US market, sending key strategic executives to New York and New Jersey to leverage the opportunity. This created a thriving expat community between New York City and gaming hubs in New Jersey.
Reflecting on that time, Greenblatt’ s longtime friend and industry peer, ex-888 Holdings head of US Yaniv Sherman, said his friendship with Greenblatt was rekindled when the two relocated to the east coast to lead their respective companies’ entrance into the US.
“ We’ ve stayed in contact on and off, but when PASPA was repealed and we both moved to the US, that connection was rekindled. We arrived at different locations and very different setups. I was setting up a new market for what was a UK-focused plc and singular brand.
“ Adam was stepping into the complicated role of a JV CEO, balancing between two major shareholders with dominant execs on both sides. We both had very limited US resources and generally our organisation’ s nerve centres were stretched through Las Vegas, Gibraltar, Israel and India,” Sherman tells iGB.
“ He is one of a few executives that grew on the corporate development side and was able to transition to an operational role,” he adds.“ Doing it with two shareholders that are not always aligned, to put it mildly, while building and growing a US iGaming powerhouse is nothing short of incredible.”
US MARKET PRESENTS GREATER OPPORTUNITIES
Speaking on the differences between his experiences of the US and UK markets, Greenblatt says that while the UK is a mature market, the opportunities in the US are much greater.
“ I will say in terms of the size of the pool, the depth of the US market is just staggering,” Greenblatt says.“ The US just dwarfs everything else in a way that surprised me. You know, relative to London, I was like,‘ Whoa!’ I thought I knew what to expect, but that hasn’ t been the case. It’ s really orders of magnitude more significant.”
With no new gaming states immediately on the horizon, the group is looking to its current player base to determine how it can increase their value.
In its full-year results, BetMGM reported monthly users were up 55 % year-on-year in Q4, while total monthly active users for the year hit 946,000, up 14 % on the previous year. Both Greenblatt and Hornbuckle are extremely bullish on BetMGM’ s turnaround and its efforts to improve product to increase player value.
During the JV’ s earnings call in February, Greenblatt cautioned that its player growth rate would likely slow in 2025 as it shifts from player acquisition mode to improving player retention. BetMGM is looking towards how it can best retain its premium players. Like other betting operators, it leaned hard on live betting during the NFL and March Madness.
MGM Resorts CEO, Bill Hornbuckle
IMPROVED PRODUCT EXPERIENCE
Hornbuckle talked up the operator’ s improvement efforts during a JP Morganhosted fireside chat in March. He insisted the firm had successfully“ pulled back on marketing” and pumped the product, including single-game parlay, omnichannel and its single wallet in Nevada, adding:“ We’ re not the fastest, but we’ re twice as fast as we were.” Greenblatt tells iGB part of this ongoing strategy is to give players a product experience that makes them feel recognised and rewarded. He noted that the approach includes premium experiences at MGM properties.
“ We’ re trying to [ create ] as close and connected an experience as possible,” he says.
These experiences include Super Bowl parties at MGM properties where BetMGM players are invited and looked after. Similar events were hosted throughout March Madness.
22 • ISSUE 138 • iGB L! VE 2025