eGaming Review Power 50 2014: 50 to 31

Welcome to the 2014 edition of the Power 50, eGaming Review’s guide to the power players in the online gambling industry.

50. BGO ENTERTAINMENT

(2013 position: 39)

With a unique proprietary platform featuring bingo, casino and virtual sports, growing customer numbers and supported by an in-house development studio, bgo should be a good prospect. It sold a third of the business to Playtech in August in return for £10m. The cash will be invested in marketing and 2014 has been all about building the bgo brand, with Austin Powers actor Verne Troyer and renowned playboy Dan Bilzerian both signed up for big-money campaigns across TV and online.

49. MYBET

(N/A)

A disaster of a year in profitability terms with just €700k of EBITDA in H2 2014 on the back of a near €7m full year loss in 2013. But the firm retains some key assets including a strong presence in the German market. It is undergoing a major corporate restructuring including the disposal of its Italian business and should emerge stronger as a result. But it needs to find a way to boost revenues in its casino business following Spanish and Italian withdrawals. The sports betting business needs to build on the growth from the World Cup to remain competitive.

48. INTRALOT INTERACTIVE

(44)

The Greek operator’s parent company posted a 26% year-on-year increase in revenues for H1 2014 after enjoying significant growth in its Western European operations. Total revenues for the six months ended 30 June 2014 amounted to €905.5m, up by €188.3m on the previous year, with 65% (€123m) of that increase having emanated from increased business in Western Europe, although only a fraction of that came through its online division.

47. 188BET

(33)

Once more a lack of visibility over definitive revenue numbers makes it hard to accurately assess one of the largest players in the Asian betting market. The Isle of Man licensed operator has pulled back from many of its sponsorship deals in the UK market, although it does retain some marketing partnerships in football and horse racing.

46. WEBIS HOLDINGS

(38)

A distinctly unspectacular year from the owners of one of online gambling’s longest standing brands betinternet. Revenues for the full year were fairly flat and the extremely low margin nature of its

betinternet business meant gross profit was just £2.6m. The firm’s US-facing pool betting site WatchandWager is generating good momentum and is looking to play a larger role in any expanded regulated gaming within its markets.

45. SPORTING INDEX

(45)

While it’s still the king of sports spread betting, it’s a market of declining importance to the wider egaming sector and its impact on rival firms is more due to its ownership of third-party sportsbook services supplier Sporting Solutions. Its financial ratings hold up well, but it scores low on all three other categories. The firm operates at an impressive scale with over 60,000 customers and an estimated 80%+ share of the global spread betting market.

44. GAMING REALMS

(N/A)

While its financial results don’t justify a Power 50 rating, the combination of its acquisitive nature, strong focus on mobile “casual” gaming and access to cash give it high scores for both influence and impact. An EBITDA loss of nearly £5m in the six months to March 2014 came on the back of heavy marketing investment and the acquisition of affiliate marketing specialists Quick Think Media. Gaming Realms is likely to play an active role in post-PoC acquisition.

43. CAESARS INTERACTIVE ENTERTAINMENT

(47)

Arguably the most powerful operator in the regulated US market and easily the most powerful operator in the social casino sector, CIE continues to represent a firm with huge potential. Freed from the shackles of its heavily indebted parent company it has continued to be acquisitive in the social space and has established itself as a leading player in both New Jersey and Nevada’s real money gaming markets. Don’t rule out future real-money acquisitions as it looks to gain scale there.

42. PANBET (MARATHONBET)

[N/A]

Marathonbet made headlines with its £5m sponsorship deal with English Premier League club Fulham FC. No financial figures were available for Marathonbet, which derives a lot of traffic from Russia, but UK-based Panbet provides “egaming services” to both Panbet Curacao and Marathonbet Alderney, and invoiced them for £4.5m and £0.3m respectively in 2013. Its position on the list reflects the panel’s lack of visibility on its financial status.

41. BETWAY

[N/A]

Betway is a brand that is beginning to make its mark on the European sector with a number of high-profile marketing campaigns to promote its sports betting and casino brand in the preceding 12 months, particularly in the UK market. It spent £10m on marketing in Europe during 2013, with the bulk of that in the UK, where it is a headline sponsor of darts and boxing, and the remainder in Spain, Italy and Denmark where it holds licences.

40. SNAI

(21)

Snai looks to be suffering from increased competition in Italy and arguably not being quick enough to capitalise on the growth of mobile gaming. Online revenues across all verticals were down almost €3m to €10.5m. It is still a powerful brand in what remains a hugely important market for online gambling, but it appears to be losing ground to rivals and should be wary of big spending competitors such as William Hill, Paddy Power and now bet365 eroding its declining market share yet further.

39. WINAMAX

(42)

France-focused operator Winamax pulled out of the UK market in advance of the PoC regime, but otherwise it’s been a year of substantial progress for the operator. It successfully launched its sportsbook in the regulated French market and continued to hold onto its position as the number one poker operator in France, despite the powerhouse of PokerStars snapping at its heels.

38. FDJ

(43)

Former French monopoly la Française des Jeux (FDJ) continued to post growth in the tough French market with online revenues growing 5.5% to €410m for the 2013 financial year with the bulk of that coming through its online lottery. FDJ’s online sportsbook was the operator’s biggest growing vertical after revenues increased by 7.6% to €75.5m and the World Cup was expected to have a material effect on that during 2014.

37. SPORTECH

(31)

Having sold its UK-facing egaming business Vernons to NetPlay TV for £3m, Sportech’s online B2C strategy is now firmly focused on the US. Perseverance paid off in New Jersey where it has partnered with Resorts Casino to offer online poker and casino games via its JV with NYX Gaming, launched its first B2C horserace betting site in Connecticut earlier this year and has also invested in Fantasy Sports.

36. 32RED

(34)

The Gibraltar-based firm made its move to prepare for Britain’s PoC regime by acquiring the 60,000-strong UK customer database of casino rival Go Wild for an undisclosed fee. H1 2014 GGR rose an impressive 19% year-on-year to a record £22.6m, with casino revenues up 21% to £21.7m, and with a Kambi-powered sportsbook launched in the period, further growth is on the cards. With its Italy-facing arm still in its infancy – H1 revenues were £1.05m – 32Red must hope expanding its casino customer base will be enough to repel tax headwinds in the UK.

35. BOYLESPORTS.COM

(40)

Ireland’s largest independent bookmaker has made good ground in the year with its online operations, although it is sub-scale to most of its competitors in the UK market. The Isle of Man licensed online operation has made progress with a new HTML5 sportsbook website, vastly enhanced in-play offering and revamped gaming offerings. The firm has launched casino and in-play betting apps as well as launching financial betting and integrating Colossus Bets’ pool betting system.

34. SISAL

(25)

A planned listing on the Italian stock exchange valuing Sisal at between €645m-€790m was cancelled in July, blamed on poor economic conditions and unfavourable stock markets. It remains the second largest gaming company in Italy based on turnover and as a local brand it is a major player in all verticals in which it operates. Sisal has so far held its own against international heavyweights Paddy Power and William Hill, although bet365’s arrival is another threat. While retail accounts for the vast majority of the Milan-based firm’s business, Sisal has 10% share of Italy’s online sports betting market and around the same in casino. Online revenues rose €2.2m to €22.8m in the first six months of 2014, producing EBITDA of €10m.

33. TOMBOLA

(35)

Regarded as the number one bingo-only operator in Europe, Tombola is thought to be the market leader in the UK and Italy, while its Spain market share has reached a whopping 40%. Figures seen under NDA reveal both revenues and profits had continued to climb in the most recent financial year, from £40m and £9m respectively in 2013. It has benefited from continued innovation and investment in mobile, an area where its competitors have lost ground. The launch of a new rapid-play bingo variant aimed at boosting revenues from mobile and tablet users, is part of a more concerted push onto the platform and growth is expected in 2015.

32. DANSKE SPIL

(32)

The Danish state lottery is a powerful presence within its local market and dominates one of Europe’s smallest regulated markets with an estimated 60% market share. The Danish model is one many would like to see copied by its Scandinavian neighbours and its success or failure will be watched closely both by operators and regulators. Danske Spil will play a large role in dictating this and if it can continue its stranglehold on this important regulated market it may force operators to exit from a market that generated around £250m in revenue in 2013.

31. MFORTUNE

(36)

A hugely impressive mobile operator that is often unfairly overlooked when assessing the power players in the UK market. It continues to generate solid profits from its mobile-only casino, bingo and poker operations with its last results reporting £5.7m profit for 12 months ended July 2013. The firm owns its technology platform and produces a huge amount of content in-house allowing it great control and differentiation within mobile gaming. Poker and bingo have added to its revenue stream, but it is slots-based casino gaming is where it excels on the mobile platform.