Ten years ago in 2014, Aristocrat’s Video Gaming Technology (VGT) made its official entry into the class II gaming market – offering bingo and non-banked card games. In that summer, Aristocrat acquired VGT for $1.28bn as part of its strategic investment initiative – with a view towards enhancing the scale of its North American gaming operations. Now, following the recent NeoGames M&A, Aristocrat is all-in on iLottery. The presentation provided company-wide updates, figures and forecasts for Gambling Insider to wade through as we move towards the end of 2024’s second quarter.
Indeed, the supplier’s H1 2024 figures are included as part of the presentation, with Aristocrat Gaming’s revenue settling at $1.8bn, Pixel United’s (Aristocrat’s mobile-first video games business) at $1.3bn and Aristocrat Interactive at $109.4m.
Drawing focus on the latter, Aristocrat Interactive is the newest member of the company family, as it is the new combined form of Anaxi and NeoGames. Operational on the three fronts of iLottery, content & aggregation and gaming systems, Aristocrat Interactive’s lowest H1 revenue was its iLottery segment. Intriguingly, this is an area that has drawn a lot of attention – perhaps because of the market’s sheer potential for growth.
Spearheaded by former NeoGames CEO, Moti Malul, Aristocrat Interactive iLottery solutions are comprised of four platforms, one gaming studio and a range of marketing, data and compliance services.
Examining the potential of regional iLottery markets with regards to clients, Aristocrat names two intriguing prospects in Sazka and Play Alberta. Leading with the former, Sazka is a European Lottery provider owned and operated by Allwyn, who supplies iLottery and iGaming technology solutions across the continent.
Allwyn itself officially became the new operator of the UK National Lottery in February, securing a £6.5bn ($8.2bn) 10-year deal to take over the lottery from Camelot. There is some contention, though, as the company is currently facing legal action alongside the Gambling Commission for the allegedly contentious procurement process which was run by the Commission. Allwyn figures, however, don’t seem to be facing any ill effects from the potentially damaging legal proceedings, as the organisation revealed a 28% yearly increase in its Q1 2024 revenue.
Nevertheless, with Sazka named as a possible partnership opportunity on the road towards EU growth, Aristocrat Interactive will be sure to keep a close eye on how the case unfolds.
Play Alberta’s operational proceedings could also see fluctuation over the coming months and years, as just last week, Minister Dale Nally confirmed that Alberta is planning a route to regulation for Gaming in Alberta – and is basing the roadmap off Ontario’s highly successful model. What this means is that what is currently the province’s only form of regulated online gaming might not be for long. Aristocrat Interactive, therefore, may have some thinking to do as to how they approach this potential opportunity.
Moving on to Aristocrat Gaming – CEO Hector Fernandez brings to light a successful H1 2024 for the group’s largest contributor. Aristocrat Gaming accounted for 56% of the group’s overall H1 revenue, and 67% of the group’s profit for the same period.
Moreover, something else that was underscored as part of Fernandez’s Aristocrat Gaming presentation segment was the company’s commitment to Tribal Gaming. Aristocrat Gaming has worked with the Tribal community since 1988.
Yet, as always, things are changing and the recent developments in Florida could potentially have an exponential effect on the entire US gaming landscape. Whether the legal loophole that has allowed the Seminole Tribe to (essentially) accept wagers from anywhere in the state will become commonplace across the nation remains to be seen. Something that won’t change is the questions that are being raised around the decision.
For the industry’s suppliers, in Florida at least, it means that the market could be monopolised by the tribe.
With operations ongoing across the globe, Aristocrat stakeholders have the pleasant problem of having a lot to chew on. However, with a parting message on the goal of strengthening long-term growth prospects and growing market share across all segments, it is certainly an exciting time for the supplier.
