Canada
Tech Innovation: The Key to Cracking North America
With major corporations spending big to corner the US online gaming market, smaller operators need to be smarter than ever to compete. But technology that can increase efficiency and help get the marketing right means everyone’s got a shot, says Flows.
For operators looking to enter the US market, how important is it to get the tech right?
It’s probably the most important consideration. Entering the US market has proved to be very challenging for many operators. Major corporations, from Caesars, to MGM Resorts, to Fox, are splashing huge amounts of money on acquiring players. Last year, Caesars vowed to spend $1 billion marketing its sport betting app in the ensuing 24 to 30 months. It’s very difficult to compete with that.
Meanwhile, the US landscape is a hodgepodge of different regulations with several individual requirements for each state. Adapting costs resources and time.
Faced with these hurdles, its crucial operators adopt technologies that can help them with personalised customer engagement, while streamlining roadmaps and offering regulatory agility.
How should operators approach acquisition and retention in the face of such competition?
For operators entering the US market that don’t have a spare $1 billion to splash, differentiation is key, not only in the look and feel they present and content they offer, but also in how they introduce themselves to the market.
It’s also important to think about the way you engage with customers and the type of customer you want to target. Creating a first-class user experience is vital in helping you to stand out and places you ahead of the competition. That experience is about much more than just the onboarding process or the initial content offering you present to your customers.
Creating a personalised experience is vital in the US, where brands are competing fiercely for a share of the market, and it’s important that your technology supports that.
Bettors’ playing habits and needs are ever-changing. Offering personalised, localised and tailored promotions helps to improve the relationship you have with your bettors, increases loyalty and reduces acquisition cost.
Once you build trust, it’s much easier for you to build a loyal customer base. To do this, it’s important to think about the initial experience and journey you are creating for every new customer and continuing to create for every existing loyal customer.
How should we use technology to build personalization?
Creating a personalised marketing strategy requires a level of creativity to ensure that you can offer something remarkable.
Consider tailoring your acquisition and retention campaigns by offering registration bets on demand, for example, or personalised birthday promotions for your VIP customers. You could offer a ‘weather bonus’, based on a player’s location, to cheer them up when it’s raining, or tailored free bets based on a bettor’s team/sports preference. Ultimately there are unlimited options in what you can do, providing you have the right tools in place.
Consumers are demanding, and recent studies suggest consumers in general are becoming less brand loyal. Personalization is the antidote to this. Some 80% of US consumers said they were more likely to make a purchase from a brand that provided personalized experiences, according to Epsilon. Meanwhile, 90 percent said the find marketing personalization very or somewhat appealing, per a Statista study.
The bottom line is, if your new US customers don’t feel they’re getting the right kind of love, they will go elsewhere, and it’s unlikely they will come back.
How can operators better equip themselves to negotiate the US regulatory landscape?
You need to have a control panel that allows for a flexible regulatory approach in several regions. Software that allows you to configure disparate regulatory requirements, rather than having to develop them individually each time, is a must-have.
Regulatory authorities don’t tend to give much notice, which can disrupt an organisation’s road map. This can be alleviated with the right tech, as certain regulatory directives and checks can be implemented directly on demand. It’s about agility and efficiency.
Smaller operators may lack resources of the big corporations, but can they make up for that by being more agile and efficient?
To a degree, yes. Most businesses today struggle with roadmaps that tend to end up with an ever-growing backlog of development requests coming in from several different business departments. As a backlog grows, it’s typical to also see that several trivial tasks end up taking months to complete since they are blocked in a queue behind bigger tasks.
But now, technology exists that can automate digital processes, build digital features, and produce applications without the need for coding.
With Flows, we can bring many items off the development backlog by allowing business units to implement those features and tasks directly through a no-code interface that everyone can work with.
This spreads the control of a business roadmap across more departments and relieves the pressure from development teams who will in turn gain more time to focus and execute properly on bigger development tasks.
You’ve previously said that the gambling industry should be more willing to share things like API’s and open-source technology. Why is this important?
The gambling industry, more than most other industries, is one that is made up of a large number of providers: payments, games, KYC, platforms, etc. Through more open APIs, innovation can come from 3rd parties that create middleware software that leverages APIs from multiple providers all at once. Ultimately, making this more accessible makes it much easier for the industry to streamline work processes and become more innovative and efficient.
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PENN Entertainment announced that it has launched theScore Casino, a new stand-alone iCasino app in Ontario. The dedicated online casino experience leverages the popular theScore brand, which has been a mainstay in the Ontario market for decades. Now available on Android, iOS, and desktop, customers can login using their existing theScore Bet credentials, allowing for a seamless experience across online gaming platforms.
theScore Casino operates on the same cutting-edge proprietary technology platform as PENN’s online Hollywood Casino, which launched as a standalone product in the US in December. The product was recently ranked by Eilers & Krejcik as the #2 overall iCasino product in the US.
theScore Casino, also available within theScore Bet app, offers a variety of online slots, table games, and live dealer content, including original titles from PENN Game Studios, the company’s in-house game development studio. theScore Casino also includes bespoke live dealer tables and exclusive games such as Blue Jays Blackjack, an original title leveraging theScore Bet’s partnership with the Toronto Blue Jays.
“We’re excited to introduce our dedicated iCasino product in Ontario under the well-known and trusted theScore brand. We’ve built a strong online gaming foothold in the Ontario market and are primed to deliver an even better casino experience with our proven stand-alone app. Our customer-friendly platform features more than 1200 games, dozens of original titles and intuitive game play that distinguishes our product and positions us for even greater success,” said Aaron LaBerge, Chief Technology Officer and Head of Interactive at PENN Entertainment.
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PlayOJO, SlotsMagic and SpinGenie to carry ELK Studios’ games in Ontario
Global entertainment brand SkillOnNet and innovative Swedish game creator Elk Studios have cemented their longstanding partnership with the launch of ELK’s groundbreaking portfolio in the Ontario market.
ELK Studios is responsible for some of the industry’s most innovative and engaging online casino games. Now, players at SkillOnNet’s Ontario-licensed casinos, PlayOJO, SlotsMagic and SpinGenie, will be able to experience the feature-packed delights of hit titles like Nitropolis, Tinkerbot and Pirot, as well as new release Orbitfall, and the studio’s signature X-iter and CollectR mechanics.
The expansion marks a milestone for ELK Studios as it continues to grow its footprint in regulated markets worldwide. SkillOnNet recently successfully launched the studio’s portfolio in the Spanish and Mexican markets through its Spanish-language brands and expects the studio’s games to make a similarly immediate impact with Ontario players.
Ontario has become a hugely important growth market since the province launched regulated online gaming in 2022. It was worth $2.4 billion in 2024, with $63 billion in wagering, the lion’s share coming from online casinos.
Jani Kontturi, Head of Games at SkillOnNet said: “ELK Studios is known for its high-quality games that blend unique storytelling and humour with high levels of engagement and playability, which is why we’re delighted to introduce them to Ontario. We believe they will perform successfully, as they have in other markets around the world.”
Vaida Cirtautaite, CCO at ELK Studios said: “SkillOnNet has been an invaluable partner in our growth journey, and we are thrilled to expand our collaboration into Ontario. We’re excited to bring our innovative games to a new wave of players in this dynamic market.”
The post ELK Studios Expands Partnership with SkillOnNet to Ontario Market appeared first on Gaming and Gambling Industry in the Americas.
Global B2B iGaming content provider secures first Canadian market entry following the successful submission and approval of its gaming-related supplier application
Playnetic, the in-demand global B2B iGaming content provider known for its quality games, reliable delivery and outstanding customer service, has announced the approval of its gaming-related supplier application by the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO).
With the AGCO licensing process being recognised in the industry for its rigorous standards and thorough due diligence, the new certification confirms Playnetic was able to meet the high levels of integrity and regulatory compliance needed to legally distribute its content within the province.
As a result of the approval, Playnetic has now secured its first Canadian market entry and will be able to provide its library of innovative games to licensed operators in the Ontario region – with this starting point paving the way for further expansion into other regulated provinces in future.
Given signs of change emerging within the Canadian market and Alberta making progress toward a regulated online model – likely drawing from Ontario’s framework – this license positions Playnetic strongly to expand its footprint in the country and further solidifies the company’s ambitious growth plans.
In the meantime, Playnetic has already begun making groundwork with key operators in the Ontario region and is looking forward to going live with some exciting brands over the coming months. The company will also be attending SBC’s Canadian Gaming Summit from June 17-19, where both existing and new potential partners alike are welcome to stop by and meet the team.
Dan Phillips, Chief Executive Officer at Playnetic, said: “Acquiring AGCO approval for our gaming-related supplier application is undoubtedly a big step for Playnetic. The new license not only secures our first Canadian market entry, but also reaffirms Playnetic’s position as a trusted provider in iGaming and underlines our commitment to compliance and operational excellence.”
Julian Borg-Barthet, Chief Commercial Officer at Playnetic, said: “We’re very excited to now be in a position to offer our library of innovative gaming content in Ontario, and the groundwork to do that with some of the region’s biggest licensed operators is already underway. Over time, we’re confident this license will also help us expand further into current markets and emerging regulated provinces, such as Alberta.”
The post Playnetic granted Ontario supplier license appeared first on Gaming and Gambling Industry in the Americas.
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