Interactive EVOLUTION GAMING
How land-based casinos can win online
Evolution Gaming’s Chief Product Officer, Todd Haushalter, discusses the conflicting issue of online gaming from a land-based perspective
Can land-based operators leverage the growing scale of the online gaming sector for their own success, or is this an unrealistic goal?
Todd Haushalter, Chief Product Officer, Evolution Gaming
Todd Haushalter joined Evolution from MGM Resorts International, where he held the Las Vegas-based role of Vice President of Gaming Operations.
A gaming industry veteran in experience, knowledge and achievements, if not in years, he began his gaming career as a high limit casino dealer for London Clubs International in Las Vegas in 2000. His subsequent rapid rise through the ranks of some of the world’s biggest gaming companies included time with Wynn Las Vegas, where he was Senior Gaming Analyst, with Shuffle Master, first as Product Director Asia, based in Macau and then as global Director of Product Development, and with Bally Technologies, as Vice President of Business Strategy.
Since 2011 Mr. Haushalter has also developed and patented several casino game innovations including a revolutionary, new Baccarat shuffler, a new method for displaying roulette game historical data and trends, and a system for projecting interactive betting spots onto gaming tables as well as new table games.
P98 NEWSWIRE / INTERACTIVE /
247.COM
Every day land-based casino operators are stepping up their efforts to compete online, and while they certainly have some unique strengths that their pure-play online competitors do not have, it is no easy task competing against the current masters of the online gaming universe. Because we have seen the world transition from land-based to online in everything from shopping to video rentals, it is easy to think that land-based casino operators can make this transition rather easily. However, the present- day winners of all things online are not those who dominated land-based operations in the 1990s.
It is Amazon not Walmart who dominates retail online. It is Netflix not Blockbuster who dominates video consumption. And it is largely pure-play online casinos not land-based casinos who dominate internet gaming. Tere is a good reason for this – the two business are very different, and it is hard for a company to be great at two very different and distinct operations.
If a major online operator announced plans to build a $2 billion casino in Las Vegas and compete against the likes of MGM, Caesars, Wynn, and Sands, we might consider it dead on arrival, and its stock price would likely reflect this. Tis operator would tell the world how it plans to transition its customers from online into its land-based casino and leverage its deep
knowledge of players gained from a treasure trove of data that land-based casinos do not have. Realistically, they would have little chance of success. Subsequently, when land-based operators attempt to go online, should we view their chances of success the same way? Not exactly, but they will certainly have an uphill battle.
THE PLAYERS ARE ALREADY ONLINE All the players at the blackjack tables and slot
machines who want to play online already are, and if they are not happy with their current online casino, they have many other operators who are happy to offer sign-up bonuses to switch. Just because players enjoy a few drinks and a good gamble in the local casino, does not at all translate into them choosing that same casino for their online play. It is easy for the land-based casinos to overestimate the power of their brand online.
Having players know a brand is powerful and does give some advantage, but land-based operators must go and wrestle their players away from other online casinos. Tat takes more than just, “Hey it’s us, your trusted local casino. Come
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