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How Gaming Industry Is Dealing with COVID-19 Pandemic

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“There is nothing in the world that is not in this.”

Mahabharata, the Indian mythological epic

Well, the Hindu epic was certainly not referring to Corona. (In fact, it was referring to itself.)

If there is anything that merits such a claim at the moment, it has to be the COVID-19 virus. There is nothing indeed in the world right now that is not in the Corona-induced-fear-triggered crisis.

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Its human toll is immeasurable and still growing. Businesses have been crippled. The betting and gambling industry is not immune to its effects either.

All the sports leagues in the world have been ground to a halt, suspending the entire spectrum of betting activities. Even the Olympics has been postponed. Many land-based casinos have been closed. Even those functioning are offering only limited access.

Multi-pronged Crisis

The economic impact on the gaming industry is going to be severe. Bill Miller, American Gaming Association President and CEO, has already called for government support. He listed the many sections of the gambling vertical that will be affected by the economic consequences of the COVID-19 outbreak in a statement:

“An estimated 616,000 casino gaming employees are prevented from working because of the important health and safety decisions made by state governments… The impact on our employees, their families, and communities is staggering, and the implications extend far beyond the casino floor. Leading technology companies that supply the industry, and the nearly 350,000 small business employees that rely on gaming for their livelihood, are also feeling the devastating blow of this unprecedented public health crisis.”

He predicted a grim economic situation if the government remains inactive in the near future:

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“The federal government must act swiftly and comprehensively to get America’s hospitality employees, and the small businesses that support them, back to work…. In total, these mass closures will rob the U.S. economy of $43.5 billion in economic activity if American casinos remain closed for the next eight weeks.”

While he was talking about the US scenario, the situation is not much different in European and Asian countries. None of the industry experts would disagree with him on his following assessment of the industry:

“Gaming is an economic engine, employing millions of local residents, generating community investment through vital tax revenue, and supporting small businesses in communities…”

Bloom Amidst Gloom

It is not all one-way traffic of bad news either.

The e-sports sector has seemingly received a boost, with locked-down people flocking to e-sports and betting based on these games in the absence of traditional betting avenues.

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Some of the gaming companies have found a sudden surge in traffic. Peter Ivanov, the head of trading at Bulgaria-based UltraPlay, says the customer interest towards its e-sports offerings is growing per day.

He says optimistically:

“We experienced a 30% increased turnover only in the first 5 days after the traditional sports shutdown. This is growing on a day-to-day basis as more people get involved. We expect this to get in 100’s% once all eSports leagues restart playing online.”

Ian Hills, general manager of Blexr, a Malta-based digital marketing and media company catering to the gaming sector, also reports similar trends:

“With the cancellation of much of the world’s sporting calendar we’ve naturally felt the effects in our sports revenues but results in our core competency of casino are holding fast, with our flagship brand recording several all-time highs over the last few weeks.”

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How Industry People Are Coping

As there is a renewed buzz around e-gaming, online casinos and other internet-based activities, there cannot be a total shut down of the gaming industry.

Almost all companies have migrated to a work-from-home mode. Blexr’s Hills sums up how his company responded to the pandemic:

“We acted quickly and decisively in the face of growing anxiety about COVID-19, which is why we are entering our second week of being an entirely remote organisation. We wanted to adhere to government advice over social distancing and also we felt our collective responsibility to lessen the impact of the disease.”

Diana Rotaru, co-founder of Vegas Slots, says the best approach is to look for alternate products and support everyone around, especially the employees. She suggests:

“Regarding COVID-19, I understand that we are facing new and uncertain times. However I think people need to remain rational and try to think of the next steps and the best solution for their businesses , employees and the ones around us. It is also very important for companies to remain supportive and understanding with their employees and the people around them.”

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It helped that online processes and operations can lend themselves to such quick and flexible transformation from office to home. In fact, the work-from-home option has been in vogue in several companies. Hills adds:

“Blexr has offered unlimited remote working as a flexible option for employees for over a year so we’ve got lots of battle-hardened experience at virtual meetings, VPN connections and maintaining the human interaction necessary for teams to work together.”

How Technology Companies Reacted

The technology service providers, though largely invisible to the public eye, are the rock around which the gaming industry is built. How are they doing?

Igor Markovic, a director board member at NSoft, a technology provider to betting industry based in Bosnia and Herzegovina, says his company has announced an unprecedented rescue package to the partners:

“In order to mitigate this demanding period, we have come up with a rescue package that will help our partners at this very moment and consequently, after all this is over, increase their business operation results. NSoft is ready to provide full support to its partners offering its virtual and draw-based games portfolio completely free of charge from 1 April to 1 June. Having no setup fees, no minimum monthly fees and no monthly revenue share invoices for two months will certainly help our partners to overcome these difficult months.”

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Rarely do you find such remarkably generous gestures in the betting and gambling industry, where words like cut-throat and competition are more frequently used than the words like chivalry.

Be sure of that: Corona – another C-word – is bringing in some previously unheard-of positive changes too.

What’s in Store in Future?

The situation at present is such that the future can only be bright. There is no other way. But how bright it is going to be? And for whom it will shine the brightest?

There is a widely held view that e-sports and online casinos will thrive. Rotaru clearly subscribes to that view. She says:

“While live betting and live dealers are affected, there are alternative products that are unaffected by the existing situation, mainly e-sports like Call of Duty, DOTA and online Casinos games like table games and slots.”

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Tim Grice, the Chief Executive Officer of Connective3, a UK-based digital marketing agency in the gaming sector, acknowledges the increased traffic towards the igaming platforms:

“We have seen an increased amount of traffic and conversions across igaming (casino/poker/bingo) as well as certain financial products and services … but there is no doubt some serious pain across multiple sectors.”

However, he expects the business to bounce back across all sectors and predicts a growth wave once the crisis is over.

“The best piece of advice I can give is to … have enough in the bank to see your business through 6 months of no revenue … and the funds to invest when the world wakes up. We’re anticipating a huge wave of growth when normality returns and as a business, we want to be in position to take full advantage.”

While COVID-19 is still wrecking its havoc, industry leaders are already planning ahead. They are clearly betting on the crisis to end – sooner rather than later.

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Perhaps the real battle of epic, Mahabharata proportions will start in the gaming industry when the Corona outbreak is subsumed. Now is the time to prepare for the battle –mostly from home though.

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Swedish Gaming Group Cherry Weighs Sale of ComeOn

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Swedish gaming operator Cherry AB is exploring options to sell its online casino and sports betting subsidiary, ComeOn Group, as part of a strategic shift in focus.

Cherry, owned by private equity firm Bridgepoint, is reportedly working with financial advisors at Moelis and Jefferies to evaluate the best course of action for its Malta-based subsidiary. According to insiders familiar with the matter, the possible sale could value ComeOn at around €500 million, based on its projected earnings for 2025.

The consideration to sell ComeOn aligns with a broader trend among European gambling operators that are offloading consumer-facing assets to concentrate on their business-to-business (B2B) services and software development.

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International Accolade for Campaign from the Danish Gambling Authority

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At a conference for gambling regulators from all around the world, the Danish Gambling Authority has been awarded “Best regulatory campaign”. The award was given for the Danish Gambling Authority’s campaign “The One-Armed Bandit”, which on social media highlighted the consequences of gambling for young people under the age of 18.

The award was presented by a jury from the International Association of Gaming Regulators, an association of 81 gambling authorities from around the world. Every year, they gather for a conference to discuss current gambling topics across countries. This year, the conference was held in Rome under the heading “Navigate the future of gaming regulation in a transforming world”.

It was a proud Director of the Danish Gambling Authority, Anders Dorph, who received the statuette in front of the 400 participants at the conference gala dinner.

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“I am incredibly proud and happy that we have won this award! It is a very special recognition and honour that our colleagues from all over the world have chosen our campaign,” said the Director.

Campaign personifies gambling addiction

Despite the fact that most types of gambling have an age limit of 18, a study by the Danish Gambling Authority in 2023 showed that 15% of young people aged 15-17 have gambled.

To prevent this and to prevent young people from becoming addicted to gambling, the Danish Gambling Authority launched the campaign “The One-Armed Bandit” in December last year, targeting young people aged 14 to 17.

The campaign talks about the potential consequences of gambling in a humorous and exaggerated way.

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It does this through the fictional character, “The One-Armed Bandit”, who is the personification of gambling addiction. In videos on social media, the One-Armed Bandit tries to lure young people to gamble in unorthodox ways. He uses humour, sarcasm and provocative language to achieve his goal.

To spread awareness of the One-Armed Bandit among the target audience, the Danish Gambling Authority used influencers, among other things.

“It’s a very different campaign from our previous campaigns. It required completely new approaches and a lot of courage to reach a new and very young target group. The people we wanted to reach are very hard to reach with campaigns, but with “The One-Armed Bandit” we hit the mark and I’m very proud of that,” said Anders Dorph.

International recognition

When the nomination was written and sent to the jury for evaluation, Anders Dorph and the rest of the Danish Gambling Authority were very excited: “It’s one thing for us in little Denmark to think it was an unconventional campaign, but would our colleagues in the rest of the world understand the irony or would they think it was really about being enticed to play?”

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The concern was put to rest when Anders Dorph, on behalf of the Danish Gambling Authority, lifted the trophy for the award, which was won in competition with three other countries’ campaigns.

“There was a great diversity in the nominees’ submissions, reflecting our members’ increasing efforts to improve the regulation of the gambling market,” said Sarah Kelly, Vice President of IAGR.

Campaign with impact

Subsequent surveys among the target audience showed that the One-Armed Bandit had actually made them reflect on their relationship with gambling: 44% said the campaign had made them think about how often they gamble and how much money they spend and 41% indicated that they have talked to their friends about how difficult it can be to control their gambling.

“It’s fantastic to be able to say that we have made a difference,” said Anders Dorph, who is also aware that the great results are a contributing factor to the authority being able to take home the international award from Rome.

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He is joined by Sarah Kelly from IAGR: “The winners stood out for their commitment to improving standards to regulate the gaming market for the benefit of both industry and consumers.”

The agency Advice, in collaboration with the Danish Gambling Authority, is behind the campaign, which features comedian David Minerba in the role of the One-Armed Bandit.

The post International Accolade for Campaign from the Danish Gambling Authority appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.

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ECA Announces Winners of Diversity and Inclusion Scholarship to the EDP 2024

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The European Casino Association (ECA) has announced the winners of its esteemed Diversity and Inclusion Scholarship for the Executive Development Programme of the Universities of Las Vegas and Reno.

“Our jury has made their selection, and we extend our heartfelt congratulations to: Siham Makrache, Director of Marketing & Communications at Grand Casino Brussels, Belgium and Vesna Goričan Čač, Marketing Manager, Mond, Resort & Entertainment, HIT Universe of Fun, Slovenia,” the Association said.

Now in its landmark seventh year, ECA’s initiative continues to champion diversity and inclusion within the European casino industry by offering two scholarships annually to ECA member employees, providing fully-funded participation in the renowned Executive Development Programme at Lake Tahoe, USA.

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The Executive Development Programme (EDP), a partnership between UNLV International Gaming Institute and the University of Nevada, Reno, stands as the pinnacle of gaming leadership education. This intensive 8-day professional development programme, now in its 35th year, is tailored for future C-suite executives in the gaming industry. With over three decades of excellence and more than 1600 alumni worldwide, the EDP focuses on developing leadership, management, and strategic thinking skills. It emphasises strategic issues in casino gaming while providing global networking opportunities, offering participants a unique chance to establish lasting professional relationships with industry peers.

ECA Board Member Tiina Siltanen underscores the importance of this initiative, stating, “Promoting diversity and inclusion in the land-based casino industry remains a cornerstone of the ECA’s mission. These scholarships play a pivotal role in fostering these values, providing opportunities for underrepresented groups to rise in the industry and bring unique perspectives to decision-making roles.”

The ECA firmly believes that a diverse and inclusive environment enhances employee engagement and satisfaction. The scholarships awarded to the Executive Development Programme are instrumental in nurturing these values within the land-based casino sector, creating pathways for currently underrepresented groups to ascend in the industry and contribute their unique perspectives to decision-making roles.

The ECA extended its sincere gratitude to its partners – Clarion, AGEM, and the Universities of Las Vegas and Reno – for their unwavering support and commitment to this transformative scholarship programme. Their ongoing dedication ensures that all costs, including travel, accommodation, and the training programme, are covered for the scholarship recipients.

This initiative not only enhances employee engagement and satisfaction but also propels the European casino industry towards a more diverse and inclusive future.

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The post ECA Announces Winners of Diversity and Inclusion Scholarship to the EDP 2024 appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.

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