“Mobile betting is now one of the most common ways to bet online”

What is the current situation of interactive and online gaming industry in the countries where Inspired Gaming Group operates?
Inspired supplies server-based gaming and virtual sports products for land-based and online markets around the world, but only operates in regulated territories. In markets that do allow online gaming, such as the UK, the eGaming industry is well established and thriving. New territories such as Italy and Greece are keen to establish themselves swiftly and high demand from players for online sportsbooks, slots and table games are almost guaranteed. The markets to watch for the future are namely the US and China, both of which are likely to present huge opportunities for suppliers and operators alike.

What products do you have to offer for this market segment?
We supply our award winning content – virtual sports and online slots – to many of the leading online operators.

Our fixed odds Virtual Sports Betting product is the world’s most visually advanced and is live with over half of the top 25 sportbooks. The diverse range of sports include horse racing, greyhound racing, soccer, tennis and track cycling. Events can be scheduled as often as the operator wishes allowing a constant revenue stream when live events are less frequent. Launched last year, Inspired’s multi-platform virtual sports offering now includes the option of events on mobile devices.

Our strong library of hit slots games comes from years of experience in the land-based casino and VLT markets. Our library includes leading titles such as Treasure Island and Temple of Treasure. Inspired often works with its online partner OpenBet to re-design top land-based games for the online market.

What can you tell us about the deal that you have signed with Paddy Power?
Paddy Power was the first operator to launch Inspired’s Virtual Sports Mobile platform and was therefore the first operator to provide Inspired’s virtual sports across all platforms - retail, online and mobile. Paddy Power has full control over the programme of sports it shows, the frequency of the events, the branding within each event and the player experience.

Paddy Power is one example of the full potential of Virtual Sports across all gaming platforms, but we have a commercial model to suit all operators from the modest online solution to the largest bespoke cross-platform retail operation.

How have iPhone, Blackberry and all smartphones in general influenced in online gaming in the last years?
Since the advent of smartphones, online gaming from handheld devices has grown year-on-year. Mobile betting is now one of the most common ways to bet online and its popularity is forecast to continue. The potential of this huge growth market was swiftly observed by technology companies, such as ours, who quickly developed programs specifically for handheld devices. These developments in mobile technology have significantly enhanced the accessibility of online gaming and in turn increased overall gaming revenue.

Recently, you have also partnered with William Hill. How do you evaluate your work with one of the world's biggest bookmaker so far?
As a company, William Hill is incredibly focused on innovative technology. Our long term partnership has kept William Hill at the forefront of technological advancements in machine gaming and virtual sports. Our recent announcement was concerning the retail side of the business. We are delighted to now exclusively supply 100 per cent of William Hill’s VLT SBG slot machines (Category B2/B3, known as FOBTs in the UK). We also supply our Virtual Sports to all of William Hill’s 2370 shops and online sportsbook.

Via our affiliation with OpenBet we are able to work closely together to ensure future retail and online innovation is synchronised. At ICE, Inspired launched its Core VIP marketing and rewards module, which is live in William Hill venues across the UK and is able to be integrated with William Hill’s online Customer Relationship Management (CRM) database. Having one view of a player across all platforms is becoming increasingly important and William Hill is now at the forefront of this trend.

What is the potential of the Latin American online gaming industry for Inspired?
The potential of the Latin American online gaming industry is huge. Previously, many citizens have been without access to bank accounts or credit cards. This has caused payment processing to be a major barrier to entry for online gaming. Today, banking sector growth in Latin America is strong, it won’t be long before bank accounts and credit cards are widely available. The increasing economic prosperity in urban areas of Latin America has led to a growing middle class with more disposable income. Computer literacy is widespread and people are becoming more comfortable making banking transactions online. The growth of banking infrastructure and swift uptake has created a rapidly developing market and real opportunity for online gaming.

Sports Betting is incredibly popular as a leading form of entertainment in South and Latin America. Its success has not gone unnoticed, with many operators keen to keep up with most recent industry trends.  We recently signed a significant deal with Caliente for our Virtual Sports to be licensed in 13 countries across South and Latin America. Caliente is one of Mexico’s largest operators of casinos, bingo halls and sports betting venues. Casino sportsbooks across South and Latin America in countries such as Mexico, Panama and Venezuela can now benefit from the popularity of Virtual Sports betting.

What are your plans and objectives for the coming months?
We’ve just exhibited at the recent Fadja show in Colombia. We’re soon to exhibit at ELA in Mexico and G2E Asia, where our virtual sports will be a key product on our stands. We’re currently working on new sports and devices on which to show our virtual sports, but a key focus for the next few months is reaching more operators to show them the very compelling virtual sports product we already have.

Will also see more of our hit slots games, such as Jungle Bucks and Monster Cash going online with leading sites.