Speaking to iNTERGAMINGi, Income Access CEO Nicky Senyard said that ICE 2015 had opened her eyes to the maturity of the land-based gaming industry and the opportunities it offers.
“I’m continually surprised at just how big the industry is when combining the land-based and online sectors,” said Senyard. “Across the industry, people are really starting to venture into the i-gaming space.
“There’s a lot more consideration of i-gaming from land-based operators now, which bodes well for us because its growing it in a previously locked area - so it’s giving us an opportunity to expand.”
If the land-based industry had, at previous ICE events, appeared reluctant about engaging with the online world, what did Senyard thing had changed the outlook?
“Primarily the defences [against i-gaming] were based on inexperience or a lack of exposure in the US - and over the last two years that has changed. New Jersey has done a lot to break the ice in that respect and I now see so many other people making serious forays.
“It’s the seniority of the people that we are speaking to that is exciting. There’s real strategic planning behind it.”
Does Senyard think that one day i-gaming will match the land-based presence at ICE? “I’m not as bullish as some but what I didn’t understand and now realise is how much money the land-based sector invests and how consummately professional these land-based operators are. They’re exceptional. They understand the levers and pulleys of their business so well – how to generate maximum benefit and profitability.
“So I think that although the land-based sector is becoming more open to it, I don’t suppose ICE will ever be ‘i-gaming first’ – but it will become a partnership and certainly more than i-gaming simply holding its own.”
Senyard added that ICE had been a success for Income Access with more walk-up traffic at the stand and notable interest from Asia. The year ahead promises much.
“We’ve got the adserving, the mobile tracking and the in-app tracking that we’ve rolled out. So for us moving forward will be about getting those things into our clients now – there are real gaps in mobile tracking and we can help plug those. That will be our real advantage.”
