Aristocrat Leisure mulls over entering sports betting market

In a report by GGRAsia, Australia-listed casino slot machine maker and digital casino games provide Aristocrat Leisure Ltd are considering entering the sports betting market

Aristocrat Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director Trevor Croker spoke in an online interview with Frank Fantini of Fantini Research, a gaming industry news provider and consultancy, and said, “We have the balance sheet, and we also have the intent – as you can see from our previous acquisitions – to either build or buy” to enter that market” 

We get a lot of feedback from our [land-based operator] customers, and we are listening a lot to our customers, about what they want in a solution, and how they think is the best way to enter.’

Aristocrat has a large presence in a number of land-based casinos in Australia, North America, Macau and other parts of Asia.  

According to investment analysts, sports betting has been a growing consumer sector in North America, coinciding with regulatory liberalization and the Covid-19 pandemic. 

Aristocrat’s digital business makes up 40 per cent of its revenues and has performed strongly during lockdown, with higher revenues and player engagement.   

In his comments to Fantini Research, Mr. Croker said that Aristocrat Leisure had been very lucky with the diversification of the last few years, especially during a time during a time when many land-based casinos have seen their business facing either temporary shutdown or reduced revenue due to the pandemic. He also added how the global crisis – with the refreshed focus on workplace and consumer health and safety – had accelerated the trend whereby products from the digital gaming world might be applied in land-based casinos. 

“Working to provide convergence solutions from the digital world, for our land-based customers, is a priority for us at the moment,” he stated. 

The executive added that Aristocrat has spent the past few years working on “building scale in the digital world” and had now  become a global player inthe RPG world, casual games and also, social casino.