Gavin Isaacs, the former CEO of Scientific Games who joined SBTech as non-executive chairman three weeks ago, has cautioned the online gambling sector not to underestimate the role existing land-based suppliers have to play in the expanding US market.
In an interview with SBC News, Isaacs said: “The industry landscape today is changing faster than ever, and the future is very much online.
“You shouldn’t underestimate the big suppliers on the land-based side as they’re going to play a significant role in shaping how things evolve, but there are some great companies out there such as SBTech that have already made huge progress in all the key regulated markets, and that are going to continue to make huge inroads across new and emerging jurisdictions such as the US”
Isaacs told SBC that his first three weeks at SBTech had been a flurry of activity. “The first thing I’ve done is to travel to all the SBTech offices in Bulgaria, Tel Aviv, Kiev and finishing in London to meet with various executives and teams to understand the products more so I can then sit down with the rest of the management team to help shape the business’s strategy.
“I’ll be using my previous experience to help the company navigate regulated markets, in particular the US, regulated US states and those states that are considering opening in the coming months and years.”
Isaacs said his new role represented a conscious move away from the land-based gaming sector, where he has been such an influential figure, and into igaming.
“I had run several large land-based gaming companies and asked myself whether I wanted to do it again,” he said.
“After a great deal of thought, I felt that I needed to look to the future and assess where I could make an impact within an area where I believe the industry is heading, and that is online with sports initially being the main driver.
“The industry landscape today is changing faster than ever, and the future is very much online,” said Isaacs.
“The potential is huge, and SBTech is investing significantly in its technology and infrastructure on the ground to enable it to maximise this long-term opportunity. Being based in Las Vegas and having worked here for several years across many of the industry’s largest suppliers I will be able to use my knowledge of the US market to support and grow the company’s US expansion.”
Read the full interview with Gavin Isaacs on SBC News here