Last year Bragg Gaming Group unveiled ambitions for an assault on the betting and gaming world after securing a deal to acquire turnkey solutions provider Oryx Gaming.
Known as Breaking Data Corp at the time of the purchase, the deal saw an initial €1.5m paid on the signing of the share and purchase agreement, with a further €4.125m upon closing of the transaction.
Consistently praised throughout 2019 due to what has been lauded as an “exceptional performance”, CasinoBeats has been speaking to Matevž Mazij, managing director of Oryx Gaming, to get the low-down on 2019 and to look ahead to next 12 months.
CasinoBeats: You have signed a record-breaking number of new clients this year, how are you expecting to keep up the momentum next year?
Matevž Mazij: It has been a great year for us as we have launched with 121 new brands across 45 operators so far in 2019, including some major names such as Videoslots, Casumo, Betsson, Unibet, LeoVegas, Mr Green, NetBet and Betclic.
The group of operators launched so far in 2019 is already contributing to more than 21 percent of the Oryx turnover. We also introduced a revamped version of our aggregation platform, Oryx Hub, which offers our partners product integration, delivery and smart marketing tools. To keep up the momentum, we need to be agile and innovative.
We will keep a close eye on emerging markets that can offer new business opportunities and will continue to track trends as well as challenges facing the industry to stay abreast with how we can best support our clients.
CB: Oryx recently announced it has partnered with Kambi to offer casino services in the US? What opportunities as well as challenges do you see in that burgeoning market?
MM: The US market has huge potential and we are thrilled to finally make our first venture into the territory. Our first agreement with Seneca Gaming is a game-changer for us as the US casino and sports betting market is rapidly expanding, and our expertise in PAM, casino, marketing and operational services, and integrations between land-based and online, positions us well to take advantage of this growth. As the legal landscape continues to mature, our strategic focus will be to partner with tier-one casinos and operators in the region.
CB: You have also launched in several other jurisdictions, where do you see most opportunity in 2020?
MM: We have expanded our footprint in several markets while entering some completely new ones. This year we have significantly grown our presence in Latin America, and we believe it is a market that has great potential for us business wise. We are currently in talks with several operators and suppliers and expect to announce both new partnerships and new agreements soon.
But Europe continues to be a strong market with more countries regulating online gaming every year, creating more opportunities for us to grow. But of course, the US will also be on our radar next year as we expect to see quick developments in some states that are warming up to legalising online gaming.
CB: In talking with your partners, what do you find their greatest concerns/issues are?
MM: Our clients are looking for a solution for their growing list of jurisdictions, compliance challenges, product diversification and localisation demands and ever-growing pressure for stable profit margins in an increasingly taxed industry.
To be competitive in today’s environment you must be compliant in as many jurisdictions as possible and with a comprehensive offering. New jurisdictions, regulative restrictions and products keep popping up and just looking at the casino vertical, we see dozens of new games launched every week.
To ensure an operator’s offering is launched over multiple jurisdictions at the same time in a compliant manner, our solution provides operators with simple and quick access to a large portfolio of certified casino content, lottery and sportsbook product, as well as additional promotional and compliance tools. This is all done with one contract and one integration.
CB: How are you finding the changing regulatory landscape?
MM: We believe that regulation is key and fully support it. We are happy to see that more and more countries introduce legislation that helps protect the consumers while also allowing the gambling industry to strive.
We have come a long way in terms of regulation, and we have seen successful frameworks in countries such as Spain, Denmark and the UK and we hope others will continue to follow suit, especially in Latin America and the US. It’s important that regulation is reasonable, and evidence driven.
CB: What has been the highlight of the year?
MM: Watching the Oryx team grow and seeing the results of our efforts has been extremely rewarding. We started in 2010 and to now be able to say that we have over 100 signed clients in 12 regulated markets is a huge achievement.
It has also been almost a year since the acquisition by Bragg Gaming was completed which reinvigorated the business and has helped us speed up some of our key goals, including entering the US market.
