By Simon Collins, Founder, Cashcade Ltd.
Rapid TV News analyses the changing nature of TV. One way it does is this to organise round tables among key industry figures to help get a sense of the trends and issues they believe are important at the sharp end of the business.
They recently looked at the way in which the TV and gaming and gambling industries are working together and in some cases forming partnerships. Here’s how the round table was framed : ‘Over the past few years we have seen an enormous change in the relationship between the broadcast and gambling worlds. Regulation in Europe is now starting to change radically, presenting barriers and opportunities to existing or would be operators. In the UK advertising gambling services has been permitted on TV for some time, and with the shift in Ofcom’s licensing to recognise gambling as Teleshopping we now have clearer opportunity for broadcasters and gambling operators to work together to bring new transactional revenue generating content to TV audiences’.
Cashcade’s very own Mark Segal, our Finance Director, went along to join the discussion which you can see here.
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By Simon Collins, Founder, Cashcade Ltd
PartyGaming is proposing to merge with bwin to create the clear market leader in online gaming with leading positions in poker, sports betting, casino and bingo. Cashcade, which joined the PartyGaming Group in July 2009, looks forward to the opportunities that this merger will create. For more information about the proposed merger, please go here.
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By Simon Collins, Founder, Cashcade Ltd.
Innovation in the UK online gambling market is moving so fast that even the most tried-and-tested practices are being abandoned to build valuable new niches.
Affiliates have long been a crucial aspect of marketing for entrepreneurs entering the burgeoning online bingo space. However, one start-up is taking a different route to market, believing that affiliates aren’t necessary.
Tryst Bingo is a new offering that will be keeping all of its marketing in-house and is relying on some of the more cutting-edge social marketing techniques, such as Facebook, to build its player base.
To those outside of the industry this may not sound particularly significant. However, in the world of online gambling it’s the equivalent of a FMCG company launching a new product without using TV advertising.
The new game is being launched by Fatbronze Ltd. The company’s Barry Smead explains the thinking behind the plan : “Starting a business whereby you give away lifetime player revenue is not in the interests of the company. We intend to reinvest our revenue not give it to affiliates. Fatbronze Ltd mission is to provide online gamers with the best choice of games and player experience this can only come from continued investment.”
Developed using a skin from Cashcade, and using the 888/Dragonfish software, Smead is confident that, with the many years gaming industry experience behind it, Tryst will be able to achieve a strong presence in the market place.
The site’s name was conceived when researching dictionary terms for having a good time and meeting new people. “Tryst; a meeting of two lovers” – the player and the game. However, it’s evidently a meeting to which affiliates aren’t welcome. What do you think? Can a new company succeed without affiliates?
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By Simon Collins, Founder, Cashcade Ltd.
The Economist magazine this week carries a special report on gambling and the rapid pace of innovation in the industry. ‘In the past ten years gambling has changed more than in the previous seventy’, the respected global business journal notes. This innovation helped to power the global legal gambling market to a value of $335bn in 2009, with just over $26bn, or eight per cent, coming from online.
Some of the changes The Economist highlights include: the rise of televised poker tournaments, such as PartyGaming’s World Poker Tour, taking the game to new mainstream audiences; gambling exchanges’ revolutionary affect on horse racing; and more recently Las Vegas’ ‘fightback’ including the launch of Wynn and Sands resorts in burgeoning Asian markets like Macau.
However, as with many other industries, the digital revolution has had the most profound affect and The Economist sees the area offering the greatest future opportunity. ‘It’s not just professional poker that has changed out of recognition in the past decade but all forms of gambling worldwide. The reason has been simple: for the first time anyone who wants to gamble and has an internet connection can do so.’
The Economist’s report gives a summary of the various aspects of online gambling, including the status of UIEGA, the changing views of European governments and the affects of gambling exchanges on horseracing. Online is also driving much of industry’s innovation. ‘As for the disruption from online gambling, it can prove highly creative,’ the report adds. That’s certainly the case in online bingo, one of the fastest growing areas of online gambling. New innovative games are launched regularly, such as Rollover Bingo, a ‘free lotto‘ game marketed by Cashcade Ltd, where players who buy tickets are automatically entered into syndicates for the UK’s National Lottery.
The Economist report ends in praise for the UK’s regulatory approach to the industry. ‘Britain seems to have found the right balance between paternalism and permissiveness, recognising that people who wish to gamble will do so, particularly today when all they need is a computer, a broadband connection and a credit card. Ensuring they are not cheated requires regulation, rigorous oversight and a commitment to an open and competitive market. All of these things are to the good.’ A view that we at Perfect Storm feel is critical to the industry’s ongoing success and growing ability to contribute to UK PLC.
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