When looking to expand across the US market, European companies must be wary of simply copying and pasting their current platforms to serve a North American market. This is why Elys Game Technology has opted to take a nuanced approach to the post-PASPA market according to Executive Chairman Mike Ciavarella while speaking to SBC Americas.
In an interview at the recent SBC Summit North America, Ciavarella began by looking at the growth of the US market in the wake of the 2018 repeal of PASPA. Elys Game Technology’s patience has paid off, he explained, now that more states have opened up to legalized sports betting.
He began: “The US market was essentially prohibited for a very, very long period of time. But that’s not to say that the market didn’t exist; it did. It has always been there, it’s just been operating underground. But since 2018, the market has been regulated.
“You’ve got to appreciate that regulated business in our industry is significantly different from the unregulated sector. In the regulated market, the regulator tells you what products you’re going to offer. It’s not the other way around.
“To be prepared for this market, we allowed the market to evolve – this couldn’t happen prior to the repeal of PASPA. So once that happened, the market began to change. We then took the data from the market statistics and analysis, looking at how players are playing, how the lines are moving etc. And rather than repurposing our European platform, we designed and built a platform to address all of those nuances of the US market.
“That took a long time, it’s not that easy. If it was so easy, everybody would do it, right? So we took a very methodical tactical approach to the US market and I think it’s gonna pay dividends going forward.”
Elys Game Technology comprises a three-part ecosystem: B2B operations, B2C division and technology development.
Serving the Italian market, the B2C operations largely focus upon the distribution of Elys Game Technology’s product to clients via its online and land-based network. Over in the United States, the company is a B2B provider of providing the trading services to a number of operators. Those two components then come together to provide feedback for Elys Game Technology’s technology development division.
Looking forward to the remainder of this year, Ciavarella explained that Elys Game Technology has found itself in a strong position to serve the needs of the North American market.
He concluded: “2022 is an interesting year. We now have launched our first location in the US, which gave us an opportunity to validate what we were building. This year is also going to be the year where we will be able to open up – not only in new locations, but multiple states.
“We’re also starting to see a rotation of incumbent operators that are looking to replace their platform. So I think we’re extremely well positioned in the US and Canadian markets.”
Watch the full interview HERE
