Discussing the lack of land-based casino activity during the COVID-19 pandemic, Carlesund says outlooks may have shifted in the retail and casino sectors towards a more favourable view of the digital space.

While as much as 90% of pre-pandemic casino revenue remained offline, according to the executive, he projects the landscape will be significantly different in the long term.

The Evolution Gaming CEO tells Gambling Insider: “The biggest changes will be in markets that are heavily dependent on land-based. Now they’ll see that, if they would have had online, they would actually have some revenue.

“New Jersey, for example, is doing a lot better than Nevada. That is the big change. The landscape will be a little bit different going forward.

“In total, 90% of revenue in casino is still land-based and 10% is online; 2-3% is live. So really the online evolution has just started. In the future to come, I think 50-70% of casino will be online.

“Maybe this [pandemic] has increased the speed a bit but the potential has always been there for online casino in general.”

Carlesund was speaking exclusively to Gambling Insider for the cover feature of its July/August magazine, where you can read more from the Evolution Gaming CEO.