With a new National Football League season almost upon us, Nevada sports betting outfit CG Technology (formerly Cantor Gaming) has rolled out its new CG Sports mobile app. CG Technology runs sports- and racebooks for eight Las Vegas casinos and CEO Lee Amaitis says the mobile channel accounts for around 60% of CG Technology’s in-state wagering.
CG’s new mobile baby made its official debut last week after a successful soft launch. The company’s estimated 20k mobile sports bettors can now enjoy even more activities that no one else in the land of the free has the right to do – including futures, props, teasers and continuous markets – via iOS and Android devices plus good old Windows PCs for the more desk-bound and/or hidebound residents of God’s most favored state.
The Nevada division of UK bookies William Hill garnered only 31% of last year’s wagers via mobile, but that was double the sum from the year before, so onward and upward. Hills is repeating last year’s “1st and $10,000” mobile wagering incentive program, which will see the company award $25k in free Mobile Sports bets over the 17-week NFL season. To kick off opening weekend, Hills is offering five $1k free bets during games on Saturday, Sept. 6 and five more freebies during games on Sunday, Sept. 7. Hills operates 78 race- and sportsbooks in Nevada.
Certainly, mobile success is the cool merit badge to have these days. (Even Zynga acknowledges this fact.) But while mobile’s share of betting revenue is rising, the overall revenue pie isn’t growing anywhere near as fast. The most recent Online Gambling Quarterly Report from research firm MECN suggests less than one-third of mobile gaming revenue is ‘new’ or additional revenue and just 13% represents bettors who’d never previously bet online.
But even if a good portion of mobile revenue is simply being redirected, a good chunk of it is coming from bettors ditching one operator for another with a better mobile offering. So it’s less a case of operators striking it rich and more a case of a ship striking an iceberg and it’s up to you to reserve a seat on the lifeboat… cuz there might not be room enough for everybody.
