Although registration numbers for the iGaming Super Show this week reportedly remained around the same as last year, networking opportunities for the delegates who attended appeared to be significantly high.
The delegates who spoke to iNTERGAMINGi at the show, which was held May 22-24 at the RDS in Dublin, Ireland for the second year running, were pleased with the location of the event. However, there was talk that next year will see the Super Show move to a slightly later date in Amsterdam. Also discussed was the potential of teaming the show with a couple of other events, acknowledging that there are too many i-gaming events on the calendar, an opinion that has been held by many in the industry for some time now.
Talking to iNTERGAMINGi on Wednesday in Dublin, senior business development manager at Instant Bank Christian Maglia said that he was pleasantly surprised by some of the big names, including Bet365 and Paddy Power who had turned out in force to exhibit.
Malta-based Instant Bank launched its online payment solution in Spain earlier this year, which Maglia hopes will be as successful as the Swedish market has been for the company. “We are currently missing some of the local Spanish companies but have big expectations for Spain and hopefully they will see that the bigger companies are on board with us and follow,” said Maglia. Instant Bank has its eye on more new markets and is currently working on building an affiliate system. Maglia added that he was pleased with the location of the show and also the number of networking opportunities.
Lisa Duckworth, commercial director at the Isle of Man Post Office, which recently extended its services into the i-gaming industry, too praised the event and said that the show was built on the people that the company had met previously.
Ray Davies, e-gaming development manager at the department of economic development, Isle of Man Government, commented: “Although it’s mainly an affiliate show, which is no good really for us, it’s the opportunities around and in addition to the show that have been presented which have proved invaluable for the Isle of Man.” He added: “There’s a great buzz around the event.”
Davies had attended a seminar earlier that day where Robin le Prevost, director of e-commerce development for Alderney, had spoken about EU operators. Le Prevost had commented that he doesn’t see EU operators moving to the US ready for the opening of the market there. Speaking to iNTERGAMINGi, Davies posed the question “will the big EU operators put all their eggs in one basket and move their headquarters to the states? Or will they keep an EU-based office with a division in the US?” He added: “It is a risky move to have everything out there considering the current volatile situation in the US.”
