Bwin Q1: sports up but poker feels heat of Stars, Tilt 12/05/2010
BWIN is feeling the pressure of US-facing poker companies operating in Europe, the Austrian operator’s first quarter results reveal, with poker revenue having fallen 17% year-on-year (YoY) if the contribution of Italian poker giant Gioco Digitale is deducted.
Although Bwin’s acquisition of Gioco Digitale in September saw poker revenue grow 22% YoY in the quarter, the rise masks an underlying fall of 17% due to competition from operators such as Full Tilt and PokerStars, which continue to take US bets and have increased their marketing in Europe in recent months.
The fall is in contrast to strong performance by other verticals, with Bwin’s flagship sports betting arm seeing revenue growth of 13%, and casino and games revenue rising by 10% and 82% respectively.
Presenting the results at the company’s Vienna headquarters this morning, investor relations head Konrad Sveceny said: “Competition is still being distorted by poker providers offering real money games for US customers, who due to the high number of US poker players, enjoy economies of scale in terms of player liquidity and financial advantage.”
The view echoes that of PartyGaming chief executive Jim Ryan, who blamed “US-facing competitors” for an 11% fall in poker revenue at the company’s first quarter results last week.
Recent marketing moves by US-facing operators in Europe include Full Tilt’s sponsorship of Formula 1 racing team Virgin Racing ahead of last weekend’s Spanish Grand Prix.
In line with expectations at Bwin’s preliminary results in February, first quarter 2010 GGR hit €133.2m, an increase of €16m on the €117.6m recorded in the same period in 2009 due to the Gioco Digitale acquisition.
The company reported earnings before interest tax depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) of €33.1m.
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Posted: 12/05/2010
User comments
Anonymous
Blaming PS and FT is misleading.
Many were surprised how Party managed to recover and expand through the European market.
Party has the most aggressive campaign to gain new players via different venue(afiliates).
You do not need bank account ,money or real id to play at party.
Example: PartyPoker No deposit 150$ bonus with very little restriction.
Now high percent of new accounts are just useless and this is the reason for fall in poker revenue.
NotAnonymous
Your funny Anonymous..
Thinking that a no deposit bonus has anything to do with Party's expansion.. ALL big pokerrooms has no deposit bonuses taken from CPA acquisition costs..
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dady
it's no good to blame pokerstars or tilt for accepting US players. everybody has the same opportunities and to take the risks doing so. longterm will show which companies did the right step.
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