【高端访谈】

科学游戏公司总裁兼CEO加文·艾萨克斯

——大奖疲劳是目前彩票与博彩业的共同挑战

 An Interview With Gavin Isaacs, President And CEO, Scientific Games

Engaging players responsibly is a primary driver for sales performance. As a provider of games, technologies and services to lottery operators in Europe and around the world, what performance trends are you measuring and what do you see as the key success factors?

No two lotteries operate in the world in quite the same way, yet many of the key performance drivers are the same. These drivers are great game content, optimized game distribution in the right channels and player engagement and promotions all coming together to create performance success.

We serve more than 50 European lotteries, and they all have our full scope of products and technology available to them – from imaginative game content to licensed brands like MONOPOLY ™, sports betting products, instant product category management, retail solutions and systems technology. With 40 years of global lottery expertise, Scientific Games’ presence in Europe has been well established since the early 1980s. We have customer focused teams in our major technology and manufacturing facilities in Vienna, Austria, and Leeds, England, and in many other countries.

A primary driver of game success originates in our Insights group, the heartbeat of our customer business support and planning. Insights recently completed several research projects in Greece and began a larger segmentation study across 11 countries in Europe. The customized marketing plans created for our customers use our proven marketing approach based on 15 Determinants of Demand and our proprietary MAP™ system, which houses over 1.7 million sales data points.

Scientific Games completed its acquisition of WMS last year and has announced plans to acquire Bally Technologies. What benefits do you expect to be realized?

That’s easy – great talent and great products. Since our acquisition of WMS in 2013, we have created new games, introduced new licensed properties, developed deeper industry insights, and integrated technologies and innovation teams. Our planned acquisition of Bally Technologies, a leading systems and content company, is expected to offer European lotteries similar benefits. The goal is to be the partner of choice and provide even more value opportunities to help our customers engage their players and grow revenues and net profits responsibly.

Here in Europe and also in the United States there is a large dependence on multi-jurisdictional jackpot games like Euro-millions, Powerball® and Mega Millions. How do we best protect against jackpot fatigue and create entertainment and fun in the games for the players?

Jackpot fatigue is a challenge facing lottery and gaming operators. This is something I have seen during my 15 years of experience at Aristocrat, Bally, SHFL and now here at Scientific Games. Whether it is a progressive jackpot slot machine game, a local lottery jackpot game or even a national game, the challenge lies in understanding the consumer. I am excited to see the exchanges taking place between our Insights team at WMS and the Lottery Group. The research, knowledge and understanding of player behavior, game structures and prizes are combining to reveal new opportunities for game content and player engagement. We must stay ahead of change and innovation, and we must keep the play experience exciting for the player.

A great example of innovation to overcome jackpot fatigue is in the United States with the new $5 national game, MONOPOLY Millionaires’ Club, soon to launch with a nationally televised game show and an internet-based 2nd Chance game. This game is the result of great change.

As the new Chief Executive Officer for Scientific Games, what are your short-term and long-term plans for the company?

We will have many innovative opportunities in the creation of game content and marketing programs to reach consumers across multiple distribution channels. Our focus is to deliver flexible solutions and value for our lottery customers’ important missions. We have collaborated on multiple initiatives with European lotteries over the years with the goal to responsibly maximize the performance of creative lottery games through secure operations on a platform of high standards. Long-term, we are committed to creativity, responsibility, security and business integrity for the European lottery and gaming industries.

On August 1, 2014, Scientific Games entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Bally Technologies, Inc.

 The FIFA World Cup tournament played in Brazil in June and July was a game-changer in the sports betting business, particularly as it relates to government-regulated lotteries. Across Europe, Asia, and Latin America, lotteries and commercial operators scored big, with record-setting sales that underscore the benefits of offering sports betting as an attractive addition to a lottery’s gaming environment.

Sports betting will only grow in popularity worldwide as technology escalates to offer more exciting products, in numerous channels, and with expanded levels of service. It’s an exciting time for the industry and for GTECH, as the Company’s technology and operational services are garnering attention in the sports betting arena.

In Belgium, Loterie Nationale – whose fixed-odds sports betting product, SCOOORE!, is offered both online and at retail – realized its highest sales week ever during World Cup, as well as the best-selling single event (Belgium– Algeria). During the tournament (June 13–July 13), 90% of retail stakes and more than 60% of online stakes were placed on World Cup football matches. For Loterie Nationale, GTECH provides a business-to-business-to-consumer (B2B2C) service that includes trading services, content management, and sales and marketing support. GTECH leads the daily planning and coordination of event matches with Loterie Nationale and compiles odds for the offered matches, taking into consideration local demand and the Lottery’s need to position itself in the market. GTECH offers the Lottery a guaranteed payout level for both retail and online channels that enables Loterie Nationale to run a risk free operation.

In Italy, where GTECH provides a complete end-to-end solution including sales, marketing, and risk management services, Lottomatica – under the Better (retail and online) and Totosi (online) brands – saw sports betting revenues rise 26.5% in the second quarter of 2014 over the same period in 2013. Much of this lift can be attributed to the World Cup (along with the introduction of virtual betting and a stable payout percentage), despite the early exit of the Italian national team. Together, Better and Totosi offer all the sports (30+) and all the markets allowed by the Italian regulator.

Latin American lotteries also experienced a double-digit increase in sports betting sales brought by the World Cup tournament. Chile’s Polla Chilena de Beneficencia saw its sports betting sales rise 11.7% and the average stake increase 38.4% over the year-to-date (YTD) average. In Mexico, Pronósticos para la Asistencia Pública realized an 11.8% lift in sports betting sales. GTECH provides the technology platform and risk management/trading services for both Polla and Pronósticos.

The World Cup was a boon for commercial operators as well. In Spain, GTECH customer Marca saw a 55.9% increase in the average World Cup stake (to €13.1) over YTD average stake, and the lift in sales brought by the tournament was more than 18.4% year-over-year. Marca offers 23 different sports and over 10,000 sports events a month. In France, market leader Betclic reported that it had nearly doubled its initial recruitment target, adding 76,000 new client accounts during the World Cup period.

GTECH’s first foray into sports betting for its customers Veikkaus in Finland and Danske Spil in Denmark, among others, was as a pure technology provider with traditional maintenance and facilities management. As new technologies and new sales channels evolved, GTECH expanded into fixed-odds risk management. Today, GTECH Betting Services include a range of solutions to support a betting operation in any channel, in any market, including:

• Trading Services

• Content Management

• Marketing Support

• Market Analysis, Strategy and Planning

GTECH’s latest sports betting solution, WagerWise, currently being readied for customer deployment, offers a new way for lotteries to add betting capabilities while minimizing the impacts on their current lottery system landscapes. Scalable and adaptable to lotteries everywhere, WagerWise successfully integrates with GTECH’s Enterprise Series (ES) system, Player Account Management, and the GTECH interactive portal, and promises to open up a world of opportunities to lotteries everywhere.