Specialist
Executive at Caesars Entertainment Inc
Agenda
- Trends and developments in the North America OSB (online sports betting) industry, including potential California sports gambling legalisation
- Competitive landscape and players’ customer acquisition spending and roads to profitability
- Industry outlook, including M&A environment and growth expectations
Questions
1.
We’re coming off of a pretty big conference, G2E [Global Gaming Expo]. Do you have any thoughts, perhaps on the biggest 2-3 takeaways or surprises from that conference?
2.
In our previous Interview [see Online Sports Betting Industry – Demand Dynamics & H2 2022 Outlook – 29 June 2022], you noted a shift in tone towards profitability from major operators with expectations for market share adjustments that were just starting to manifest. What has transpired since we last spoke?
3.
California is arguably one of the most important states for sports betting, given the amount of teams that call the state home. Some recent polls have suggested initiatives such as Proposition 27 will fail, as you noted. What’s next? Who are the clear winners or losers coming out of a scenario where Prop 27 does fall through?
4.
What could happen if Prop 27 does end up passing? I’m assuming it’s the inverse of winners and losers. In particular, I think the local Native American tribes have been really pushing for Prop 27 to fail.
5.
At the time of our previous Interview, it was 5-6 months into New York’s debut into mobile sports betting. You noted that it was performing better than expected. Has that market lived up to your expectations and to what extent has New Jersey been meaningfully impacted, as was feared by some?
6.
You mentioned the continued reductions in marketing spending levels. What are you seeing from the current NFL season? How relatively aggressive have operators in the space been around promotions? Who are you seeing as least and most aggressive and what are some potential outcomes on that front?
7.
What are your thoughts on the competitive environment? Is there anything incremental or noteworthy to call out more broadly? How has market share from the big 3-4 players potentially shifted and do you have any expectations for it in the following 3-4 quarters?
8.
Given your comments on developments in horse racing, do you have any incremental thoughts on what’s to come and any additional horizontal product launches? What else might make sense aside from horse racing and how might major players be thinking about revenue and profitability ramps for those horizontal products?
9.
You mentioned the importance of databases. How are players doing a great, good or poor job of stretching customer LTV [lifetime value] given how much they’ve invested in capturing these customers into those platforms and databases?
10.
Do you have any updated expectations on the roads to profitability for DraftKings, Caesars and FanDuel, and what these might look like relative to each other? Estimates have pointed to DraftKings potentially turning profitable sometime between 2025 and 2027. Is that sensible, aggressive or even conservative?
11.
Do you have any perspective on spending efficiency when it comes to tacking it onto players’ roads to profitability? Have you seen any indication of the major 3-4 becoming much more or maybe less efficient at spending?
12.
What’s your perspective on the relative health of industry M&A? Is there anything you’ve been tracking that might spur or mar M&A activity in the near term?
13.
What does a potential MGM-Entain merger look like, just going off of press that recently teased that possibility?
14.
Do you have any perspective on the growth of live dealer gaming progressing compared to the overall market? Do you think it’ll continue to outperform and do you see any significant challenges to players, such as Evolution Gaming’s dominance in this space?
15.
Should we expect any additional US states to legalise the online casino proposition? If so, which states come to mind and over what time period?
16.
What are your expectations for global online gaming industry growth, given macroeconomic headwinds? It obviously seems very difficult to forecast as the industry is so nascent and we don’t have much historical precedent.
