Every year more than 25,000 visitors from the global gaming industry descend on the Sands Expo and Convention Center in Las Vegas, Nevada, to see the latest trends, products, and innovations in global gaming - and hear about the i-gaming regulatory developments with which the US continues to tease the industry.
The Global Gaming Expo opens today with an unrivalled expo hall and four days of conferences. This year’s event promises to be the biggest yet.
The American gaming industry finds itself at an interesting tipping point and European i-gaming is watching. Federal regulatory limitations seem to be slowly shifting on a state-by-state basis and attendees are here at G2E to find which verticals are yielding opportunities.
There are limited opportunities now with real-money gaming, but at least there are some. On the face of it, New Jersey and Delaware’s burgeoning online gaming industries have been a disappointment - but the local operators seem quite bullish about the long-term opportunity, most notably in the more populous New Jersey.
Where real-money gaming can’t penetrate, social casino is still the online entry point for land-based casinos. Social casino is an important tool for starting the online journey and engaging customers. It will also be interesting to see whether the new skill gaming companies make any crossover on the Skill v Chance panel that takes place on Tuesday.
One vertical in particular is causing a stir. The emerging daily fantasy sports sector has quickly produced two unicorns - DraftKings and FanDuel - and they are set to go global. Whether a large global DFS jackpot can impact on an in-play focused sports betting market is yet to be tested.
One way or another these American companies will change the European gambling market and i-gaming operators are positioning themselves to react. Jason Robins’ panel (on Tuesday) is sure to be one that is well attended.
Pokerstars multi-product play seems to be taking shape with the beginnings of their foray into DFS and it will be interesting to see how the other big players react. Gambling operators look to brand build in any way they can in i-gaming and daily fantasy seems to be the newest must-have product in any online product portfolio.
The e-sports industry is also causing a stir. As yet, there is little real evidence of its impact into mainstream betting but its appeal and future influence will be one to watch – something being discussed later today.
Behind all the optimism of what may be, lies the multi-billion dollar funding machine of Sheldon Adelson and his fight for the restoration of America’s Wire Act. Ironically we find ourselves at G2E in one of his properties at the Sands.
