Headed up by former 888
director of technology Gil
Rotem, bet365’s gaming
division is run from a separate
office about 50 yards away
from the main HQ building. In
stark contrast to sportsbook,
the operator’s gaming product
consists purely of third party
content, mostly from Playtech.
But while almost all other
multi-vertical operators have
seen poker and bingo in decline
during 2013, bet365 managed
to post growth across all four.
The full year results showed
that poker and bingo net
revenue grew by 10% and 25%
respectively, while a strong
casino performance saw overall
gaming revenues grow by 35%.
“We made a decision a long
time ago that the right strategy
for bet365 was to focus our in
house software development on
the sports product along with
our complete back office,” says
Coates. “Then on the gaming side
to bring in and integrate the best
third party suppliers. I still believe
this is the right strategy.”
Coates describes both
bingo and poker verticals
as “challenging” but says
their performance has been
“reasonable” given market
conditions. And the company is
making moves to ensure revenues
remain at the very least flat.
GIL ROTEM
www.egrmagazine.com
Improvements to the live
dealer product have also been
made, including the introduction
of exclusive private area tables,
allowing more tables to be
available at peak hours and
enabling blackjack customers
to play more than one hand
at once. Meanwhile, bingo has
been enhanced by new minigames, the introduction of push
messages on mobile to help with
the targeting of promotional
offers, and ongoing sponsorship
of TV show Emmerdale.
In poker, the launch of a
mobile client on Playtech’s iPoker
mobile network should boost
numbers, with Rotem saying
at the time that the mobile site
encourages players to remain “inhouse” on bet365 tables rather
than join outside networks so
players can compete in “a much
safer environment as we don’t
have many sharks”.
"We have significantly
improved the network ecology
for bet365 players and they
are now benefiting from a
better playing experience"
“We have significantly
improved the network ecology
for bet365 players and they are
now benefiting from a better
playing experience which has
improved the player value,”
Coates adds.
Bet365’s tendency to
emphasise its sportsbook
prowess is misleading given how
successful its gaming business
continues to be. However, its
reliance on third party content
could make it harder for it to
differentiate its casino, bingo and
poker content from competitors,
who are increasingly highlighting
the benefits of a unique product
range. Time will tell which tactic
wins out.
“I CAN HONESTLY SAY
THERE IS NO END GAME
AT THE MOMENT...I
DON’T THINK IN THAT
KIND OF CONTEXT”
- DENISE COATES, BET365
Group in the online betting stakes, but no one can
say its brand hasn’t penetrated.
“We feel [our adverts] are an important part of
the marketing mix,” says Coates. But she adds that a
noticeable increase in other operators’ running TV
advertising – Betfred’s new £10m campaign among
them – has caused the costs to rise and return on
investment to drop.
“In the UK, the market has changed significantly.
Six years ago, when we started the ads, there were not
many others doing it and prices were reasonable. Now
t