Michael Bauer

Michael Bauer, CFO/CGO at Greentube, unpacks the recent spate of activity for the supplier in North America and outlines the company’s future vision.

CB: Firstly, how do you assess the current scale of opportunity in the US for Greentube, across both social and real-money gaming?

Michael Bauer: If we start with social, we have been active in this area for some time now with our B2B marketing platform, Greentube Pro. This US-focused solution enables land-based casinos to stay connected with their players, and players to stay connected with the casino brand, through online social casino gaming. 

It is still a very interesting proposition for any land-based casino, or larger casino chains, that have the goal of embracing online gaming. It offers a very useful first step into the market by building up a player base that you can later aim to convert.

Additionally, it provides an insight into the games that are engaging with a player base, enabling better provision choices to be made in the future. Social casino also helps to build up the routines needed for successful real-money operations and overall, it is still a very interesting option for operators – or those who want to become operators. 

When it comes to real-money gaming, our recent actions speak for themselves. We have made giant strides right across North America commercially, notably recently striking a deal to go live with BetRivers in Ontario and Michigan, and also in terms of content creation where we have boosted our capabilities through M&A. It’s a region that represents great opportunities for our business and even more so when there is a further roll-out of regulation across states and provinces. 

CB: What impact has the joint venture with Flamingocatz and the acquisition of Present Creative had on your ability to serve the US market with localized, relevant content?

MB: These deals are very important from a strategic perspective in terms of content creation for the North American market. As things stand, we are still in the game creation phase, so nothing has yet hit the market. However, both the Flamingocatz team and Present Creative are working on a series of new concepts that we are excited about. 

A number of studios are now working on content for us in the region and we are confident that we are fully equipped to serve the North American market with games that will resonate with players. 

CB: What is the strength of the opportunity for game developers within the iLottery space in the US?

MB: The iLottery space is a very interesting one from Greentube’s perspective. It remains to be seen exactly what the picture will look like in terms of the provision of games, because as it stands, some operators have exclusively lottery content and others also carry slots. 

Overall, there is plenty of room for optimism for our industry given the fact that state and provincial lotteries are very mature operationally and with huge databases of customers. There’s a clear roadmap for success and it’s a business area we will continue to monitor closely.

CB: Finally, what other developments can we expect to see from Greentube in the North American region over the next 12 months?

MB: At the moment, we are working towards going live in both Pennsylvania and Connecticut. We are also aiming to further increase our existing customer base in Michigan, New Jersey and Ontario where we have a number of new deals lined up. 

On top of that, we are working on new game concepts while building up a local operation through integration teams, technical account management and certification. This will help us to be closer to the market and to work more quickly to deliver an offering that we believe will continue to be very successful across North America. 

This is one of the main reasons we are attending the SBC Summit North America conference and trade show, as we will be able to get a better understanding of the market, as well as build valuable connections.