Amaya Gaming Outlines Casino And Sports Betting Expansion Plan

On August 1, 2014, gambling software company Amaya Gaming bought the Rational Group, parent company of PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker, for $4.9 billion. The acquisition fitted in firmly with the vision of its CEO David Baazov, who stated Amaya’s intention was to provide “content to the gaming industry on a common platform across all media.”
On August 15, a conference call was subsequently held in order to discuss Amaya Gaming Group’s Q2 results, as well as the future direction of the business. Chief amongst the topics discussed was the expansion of PokerStars into casino games and Sports Betting verticals, and elaborating further on its plan, Charles Washington on toppokersites.com, explained:
“Amaya Gaming has estimated around half of its existing poker players also gamble on other verticals, including casino games and sports betting, and so introducing these products is expected to benefit customers by enabling them to earn loyalty points across a single platform. Likewise, Amaya’s expansion plan is expected to help boost traffic on the company’s iPoker sites, PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker.”
While Full Tilt Poker started offering casino games at the beginning of this year, it has yet to undertake a concerted marketing campaign as it seeks to perfect its casino product first before pursuing further expansion. PokerStars, however, has yet to launch online casino game, although it is expected to introduce its first casino products in Spain and Italy within the next six months.
While casino gambling will give the company access to a worldwide market worth $25 billion annually, sports betting will also open the company up to another potential market worth $17 billion. Commenting on his expansionist plan, CEO David Baazov, explained:
“The focus is to grow the sector. The exciting part of this company [Rational Group Ltd] is that it comes with 86 million customers. Not 86 million gamblers specifically; 86 million customers.”
In addition to expanding its product range, Amaya said it expects to make inroads into more regulated markets in the near future, including countries across the Americas, Europe, and Asia. Expanding further on the issue of regulation, OnlinePokerReport quoted Amaya CEO Baazov as stating:
“We believe there are important benefits from regulating online gaming operations [including] protecting consumer funds, ensuring game integrity, combating collusion fraud and money laundering, and ensuring responsible gaming processes are in place.”