Lewis Pek Editor
Comment
February 2021
This month’s issue is filled with stories that show explain the shift taking place within gaming as land-based further embraces digital technology, both online and via mobile, and on the gaming floors themselves. Digital payment solutions are rolling out across slot floors in the US at a rapid rate as customers seek the convenience and safety of contactless payments. We discuss the acceptance of cryptocurrencies in our Interactive section this month just as IGT announces its patent for funding payments via Bitcoin and MoneyMatrix signs a deal with PayPal, making the ease at which customers can make secure gaming transactions a long- talked about reality.
The news has been dominated over the last two issues by large scale takeover bids as land-based shifts tack. The Asia market land-grab of the last decade appears to be fizzling out as major land-based operators seek to ensure their own digital legacies are secure. Caesars’ platform security and that of MGM Resorts is spotlit by the on-off relationship of the bids, rejections and counter-bids that we’re likely to be filling column inches for the rest of the year.
THE NEWS HAS BEEN DOMINATED OVER THE LAST TWO ISSUES BY LARGE SCALE TAKEOVER BIDS AS LAND-BASED SHIFTS TACK
As a giant of the gaming industry passed in January, the legacy Sheldon Adelson has left is enormous and far-reaching both in terms of geography and history. I travelled to Singapore solely to see his Marina Bay Sands, I marvelled on my first trip to Vegas at the Venetian - and again in Macau. And while his gaming monuments will out live us all, his staunch objection to online gaming is already being undone as Las Vegas Sands seeks to follow a digital path in the future.
Consolidation within the gaming industry has been rife over the past few years, but it has also been overwhelmingly siloed within sectors. Rarely have we seen digital and land-based colliding outside of their own spheres of influence. Regulation that prevented land-based operators from capitalising upon the rise of online and mobile gaming is finally unleashing land-based operators to take full advantage of the benefits sports betting and igaming offer as both independent and supplemental revenue streams.
We talk about companies like MGM and Entain, William Hill and Caesars as giants within their sectors, but if these early deals are any indication, we’ve not yet realised the scale and potential of what a fully integrated gaming company can accomplish, or the sheer size and reach of these enterprises. The gaming landscape is changing significantly, just not in the way that Mr. Adelson envisioned.
EDITORIAL
G3 Magazine Editor Lewis Pek
lewis@gamingpublishing.co.uk +44 (0) 1942 879291
G3Newswire Editor Phil Martin
phil@gamingpublishing.co.uk +44 (0)7801 967714
Features Editor Karen Southall
karensouthall@gmail.com
International Reporter James Marrison Staff Reporter William Bolton
william@gamingpublishing.com Contributors
Teresa Lanowitz, Eliza Rayner, Cillian Barry, Mark Chakravarti, Lloyd Purser, Maria McDonald, Josef Rotter, Tomas Graf
P4 NEWSWIRE / INTERACTIVE / MARKET DATA ADVERTISING
Commercial Director John Slattery
john@gamingpublishing.co.uk +44 (0)7917 166471
Business Development Manager James Slattery
james@gamingpublishing.co.uk +44 (0)7814227219
Advertising Executive Alison Dronfield
alison@gamingpublishing.co.uk +44 (0)1204 410771
PRODUCTION
Senior Designer Gareth Irwin
Production Manager Paul Jolleys
Subscriptions Manager Jennifer Pek
Commercial Administrator Lisa Nichols
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