IGAMING NEXT NEW YORK CITY: MAJOR TALKING POINTS FROM THE COMPANY’S INAUGURAL US IGAMING EVENT

IGAMING NEXT NEW YORK CITY:

Major talking points from the company’s inaugural US iGaming event

Words by Conor Mulheir

In May, Malta-based conference specialists iGaming NEXT united more than 700 stakeholders from across the iGaming, sports betting, investment and Web3 industries for a two-day summit held at the iconic Times Square, Manhattan. Movers and shakers from across these burgeoning sectors came together to discuss the future of online gambling in the US, with each intending to stake a claim in the market. Here are some of the top takeaways from the event:

Senator Joseph Addabbo Rahul Sood and Pierre Lindh

Legislators expect iGaming regulation to take the US by storm

Some of the sharpest insights revealed as part of the event’s exclusive conference agenda came from New York State Senator Joseph P. Addabbo, a key politician who is pushing for the regulation of online sports betting and iGaming in the US.

Addabbo played a fundamental role in the legalisation of online betting in The Empire State. He told conference attendees that online casino – or iGaming – will surely follow suit.

In a further glimmer of hope provided for the event’s audience, Addabbo revealed that New York’s controversial 51% tax rate on betting revenue may be reduced in the future, while suggesting the market could also be expanded beyond the nine current licensees. “These are things that… we get to evaluate after a period of time,” Addabbo said. “It was too premature to do it in this year’s budget, which was April, only four months in – but, let’s look at it somewhere down the line and those items; increasing the number of operators, tinkering with the 51%, [they are] possibly something we do somewhere down the line.”

Industry stakeholders will be hoping for Addabbo to receive the legislative support required to make his predictions a reality in New York’s rapidly growing online gaming market.

Web3 will change the way we game and gamble

Much has been written about Web3, blockchain, NFTs and cryptocurrency, but with many industry professionals and investors struggling to cut through the noise, iGaming NEXT New York City introduced a brand-new conference track called metaNEXT to help attendees separate fact from fiction in these hyped and emerging sectors.

From engaging a younger generation of players to the benefits of decentralisation, Web3 innovators helped attendees understand future use cases of the metaverse and how it might provide opportunities for the gambling sector.

While speakers broadly agreed that the nascent technology powering Web3 is still in its infancy, they suggested the implications for iGaming are likely to go further than we can currently imagine.

One pioneering Web3 use case came from Rahul Sood, co-founder of esports-focused betting operator Unikrn and CEO of game studio Irreverent Labs.

Sood revealed the details of his latest project to conference attendees; blockchain-based, play-to-earn multiplayer game MechaFightClub.

The game contains individually unique, artificially intelligent nonplayable characters, which exist as NFTs on the blockchain. This unique and innovative case study helped attendees understand some of the real-world use cases for Web3 technology within gaming, as did a keynote speech from HappyHour.io founder and former GiG CEO Robin Reed.

Who are the up-and-coming stars of iGaming?

iGaming NEXT New York City also introduced an innovative panel format: The Hot 6ix!

This session put some of the brightest minds in gambling in the hot seat as they explained the rationale behind their business ventures to a panel of seasoned judges and investors.

Founders from fantasy sports start-up Underdog Fantasy, multiplayer online casino innovator BeyondPlay, data-driven CRM provider Fast Track, sports betting media portal The Gaming Society, technology and platform provider Boom Entertainment and fintech start-up Sporttrade all faced incisive questions from industry experts in front of a capacity crowd of attendees.

The group took turns to pitch their concepts by explaining which pain points they could help solve for both businesses and end customers.

For example, Sporttrade CEO Alex Kane is hoping to bring a new demographic of customer into sports betting via the introduction of a new product that bridges the gap between recreational trading apps like Robinhood and traditional – but complicated – betting exchanges like Betfair. “Our goal is to bring a new customer to the space,” Kane told the Hot 6ix judges. “And I think that customers aged 18, 19 and 20 are trading cryptos, they’re trading NFTs, they’re trading collectibles, they’re trading stocks. And where are they doing that? They’re doing that on Coinbase, they’re doing it on Gemini, they’re doing it on Binance US.

“So, really what we’re trying to build does work like an exchange, Sporttrade, but it’s supposed to appeal to a customer that maybe understands trading before betting on sports.”

Underpinning the rationale behind targeting this demographic, Kane added: “Robinhood has 20 million customers, Coinbase has 10 million customers – Americans already know how to trade. We want to take them and allow them to trade sports.”

iGaming NEXT New York City: The view from the inside

To secure the insider’s view of the conference, EBM Magazine sat down with iGaming NEXT managing director Pierre Lindh to get his perspective on the two-day show.

“NYC proved to offer something different to other conferences as proven by the satisfaction survey, which showed an almost perfect score and the highest of any event we’ve organised over the last 10 years,” Lindh told EBM.

“The reason is simple. Rather than focusing on a high number of delegates as the key USP – as some other industry conferences do – we instead chose to focus on the quality of delegates in order to offer a space for high-level professionals to meet their peers. Couple this with a huge effort to deliver world-class content and fantastic networking opportunities, all within walking distance, and you get a conference that is both pleasant and productive. Think similar to Davos, only with less skiing and more iGaming.

“What also made this conference stand out was the incredible media representation. Journalists and reporters from the New York Times, CNBC, Bloomberg and Business Insider all covered the event.

“Personally, I loved meeting a lot of people in person that I had only met digitally prior to the event. I also enjoyed the fireside chat with the New York State Senator Addabbo, as well as the keynote presentation from Robin Reed, founder of HappyHour.io.

“I also particularly liked the adjoined investor conference that was hosted by Morgan Stanley, which covered high-level discussions about where the industry is headed. The follow-up networking dinner hosted by Morgan Stanley, at the top floor of their Times Square headquarters overlooking Manhattan, was also the memory of a lifetime.”

What to expect now from iGaming NEXT

As you may have guessed by the name, iGaming NEXT is always looking to the future. And with one successful stateside event under its belt, the conference will return to the Big Apple in 2023, with a second edition due to take place on 8 and 9 March.

Visitors can expect the same wealth of networking opportunities next year, with exclusive drinks receptions and dinners taking place across some of New York’s finest venues.

At iGaming NEXT, the content comes first, so attendees can look forward to another specially selected roster of industry specialists to tackle the most impactful topics.

Rory Credland, iGaming NEXT head of commercial, said: “iGaming NEXT New York City is a unique opportunity to work alongside owners, entrepreneurs and experts who think and talk about business in the same that way you do.

“It will be especially useful for those who are seeking to gain a deeper understanding of the convergence between igaming, sports betting, investment and the metaverse. This is your community.”

In the meantime, all conference sessions from iGaming NEXT New York City 2022 are available on the iGaming NEXT YouTube channel.

The company’s next conference will take place much closer to home, at the Mediterranean Conference Centre in Valletta from 27 to 29 September 2022.