JAN FEB 2022
Editor's Letter
From everyone at Gambling Insider, we'd like to wish gambling industry stakeholders the happiest and most prosperous of new years.
Our first gift to you in 2022 is this bumper edition of Gambling Insider, filled with 112 pages of comment, opinion and analysis. That means our usual assortment of data, including Facing Facts, In Numbers, Taking Stock and the latest exclusive stats from Global Betting and Gaming Consultants. That also means our usual Big Question and Roundtable features, focusing on sports betting data and the rise of aggregation. As ever, we have some of the industry's most insightful Insiders, as well as columns from Lee Richardson, Dr Joerg Hofmann, Ranjana Adhikari and Exacta Solutions.
But our main course, without a doubt, is our annual CEO Special, in which we've interviewed the leaders who are shaping how our industry will progress and evolve in the coming years. Our list of past CEO Special interviewees reads like a who's who of renowned gambling CEOs: Jim Murren, Kenny Alexander, Matt Davey, Itai Pazner, Martin Carlesund, Henrik Tjärnström, Bill Miller, John Connelly, Gustaf Hagman, Pontus Lindwall, Therese Hillman and more.
And this year's interviewees add further industry pedigree to that already illustrious list. We start off with Amy Howe of FanDuel, which, by many measures, is the leading US sportsbook. Ambitious yet grounded, Howe tells us about growing up as an identical twin, years at McKinsey & Company and keeping FanDuel at the top of its game.
Across both the Atlantic Ocean and the online/bricks-and-mortar divide, Paddy Power Retail CEO David Newton is our second CEO. He tells us all about a career at Woolworths, Ladbrokes and Paddy Power, another of Flutter Entertainment's famous brands.
PointsBet CEO Sam Swanell brings us an international perspective, as he discusses how he turned an Australian start-up into one of the material players in the US market – so much so it is one of just nine New York licence holders following the launch of the state's mobile market. The Australian market itself proves fascinating to read about.
Completing our CEO Special is Michael Dugher, a man with serious political pedigree, having been a Labour MP in the UK for a number of years. Now leading the Betting & Gaming Council, his mission is to unite the UK gambling industry. And, in many ways, our hope is that we've united you all, our readers, to pick up the best magazine in the sector and glean all the invaluable insights our revered CEOs have to offer.
The convenience of home betting
Robert Linnehan, Editor at XLMedia, discusses the impact of the recently launched New York mobile sports betting market
Searching for talent
Headhunting firm SRI recently tapped industry veteran Ben Fried to lead its betting and gaming practice. We sat down with him to discuss the search for talent in a rapidly growing industry.
The beating heart of all businesses
AstroPay CEO, Mikael Lijtenstein, speaks to Gambling Insider on securing customer loyalty through a better user-centric payment experience
Carrier billing: Safe and swift
Bettina Sommer, Director of Sales, Dimoco Carrier Billing, discusses the importance of mobile phones, digital apps and payment methods
Live casino, but different
As we leave 2021 behind us, Gambling Insider speaks to Pragmatic Play’s Chief Business Development Officer, Yossi Barzely
“Popular and playable games”
Lightning Box’s Chief Product Officer, David Little, speaks on the company’s merger with Scientific Games as the industry enters an exciting 2022
Update: Global Gaming Awards London 2022
The Global Gaming Awards are pleased to announce the final Shortlist for the Executive of the Year category, sponsored by Bragg Gaming
Are you en(ter)tain-ed?
Isabella Aslam attended the recent Entain Sustain conference, which showcased the launch of the operator’s new initiatives.
Catering to emerging patron trends
Rohith Kori, Vice President of Corporate and Product Strategy at Agilysys, discusses the tech tools casinos need today
CEO special: Sliding doors
FanDuel CEO Amy Howe speaks to Tim Poole about having an identical twin sister, learning at McKinsey & Company, turning FanDuel into a $7-10bn brand and much more
CEO special: The cut and thrust of retail
Paddy Power Retail CEO David Newton speaks to Tim Poole about his time at Woolworths, Ladbrokes and now Paddy Power, where he is steering the brand’s betting shops through Covid-19
CEO special: Getting to the point
PointsBet Group CEO Sam Swanell speaks to Tim Poole about putting it all on the table after a distinguished career – to create a start-up that is now one of the “material players” in Australia and North America
CEO special: Uniting the industry
Now tasked with bringing the UK gambling sector together, Betting & Gaming Council CEO Michael Dugher chats to Tim Poole about his many music bands, growing up during a time of political tension and a storied career with the Labour Party
The new science of social sports betting
The team at affiliate The Game Day explores the issue of social conversions for sports betting, and asks whether it can ever be an exact science
Big question: How much more important is sports betting data now than five years ago?
We asked Ivo Doroteia, CEO, Sportingtech; Jeevan Jeyaratnam, COO, Abelson Odds; Dima Reiderman, COO, BtoBet; Malte Hegeler, OddsMatrix CEO (EveryMatrix)
Roundtable: The rise of aggregation
Enrico Bradamante, Chief Commercial Officer at Pariplay, Andrey Starovoitov – COO at Softswiss, and Simon Hammon, Relax Gaming Chief Product Officer discuss the prosperity of online casino aggregation, and the pros and cons of this increasingly popular business model
GI Huddle: Significant strides
Interblock Global CEO John Connelly speaks to the GI Huddle about Interblock’s year, electronic table games, US gaming’s remarkable 2021 – and the future of omni-channel gaming
Market mania; bull, bear or bubble?
Lee Richardson MBA, CEO of Gaming Economics and Co-Founder of The Big Betting Balagan, believes valuations will only go in one direction during 2022
Germany: the state of play
Dr Joerg Hofmann, of Melchers Law, writes his first of many guest articles for Gambling Insider, running through the state of play and outlook for gambling regulation in Germany
Casual gaming is serious business in India
By Ranjana Adhikari (Partner) and Sarthak Doshi (Associate) at IndusLaw
iGaming M&A gains momentum
As more businesses look towards benefiting from the explosive growth of iGaming M&A, the role of the M&A consultant has never been more important to navigate the complexities of the industry. Chris Vella, Co-Founder & MD of Exacta Solutions, tells us more
