“Almost every analysis of the US betting industry is undershooting the figures by at least three or five times the market’s real potential,” is how SeventySix Capital’s Managing Partner Wayne Kimmel, described the ‘mind boggling’ size of the industry and his passion to discover the next forward thinking start-ups courtesy of the LaunchPad competition, part of next month’s inaugural ICE North America (May 13-15, Boston, MA, USA).
Expanding on his involvement with LaunchPad, which puts enterprising start-ups in front of investor judges and senior gaming executives, the sports tech Venture Capitalist, said: “To see some of the great tech entrepreneurs on the same platform alongside young people with new ideas and new interpretations of this industry is a big deal. People have been betting forever on sports in the US, it’s not a new thing, but since PASPA was overturned in 2018 people feel more comfortable with it and because of that the market continues to grow at an accelerated pace. Just look at the mobile side of the industry, what’s happening is unbelievable with start-ups testing the waters of how consumers will experience this industry in the future. The scope of the industry is massive, in fact, it’s mind boggling!”
Led by Wayne Kimmel, Jon Powell and MLB superstar, Ryan Howard, SeventySix Capital, invests in passionate, ‘smart and nice’ entrepreneurs who are launching game-changing tech start-ups. Kimmel believes their big vision chimes with the opportunities offered by ICE North America. He explained: “Our mantra is all about investing in smart and nice entrepreneurs who want to change the world and do really big things. We use the word smart because you’ve got to have big visions and a desire to change the status quo, but equally we want to ensure we’re working with the right kind of people, hence the ‘nice’ part. The smart side reflects our desire to work with people who want to do really big things, create businesses that aren’t just lifestyle businesses but business that truly can transform the industry of sports betting.”
“It’s crucial to have events like ICE North America, in order to bring together the incumbent players, the experts, the entrepreneurs, companies that want to get an opportunity to put their toe in the water and see what’s going on,” he continued. “When the industry meets at ICE North America it will only have been a year since the PASPA ruling, so there are a lot of opportunities and so many things that can and will happen in the future. It’s vital to bring everyone together to network, to learn from each other and truly to help each other to build what’s estimated to be a $500bn industry.”
He concluded: “It’s really big, it’s legal, it’s regulated, it has so many super opportunities ahead and ICE North America is the place to discover all of this. If you’re already in the industry, you’ve got to be there. If you’re interested in becoming part of the US market, you’ve got to be there. If you’re just starting out in this industry, you’ve got to be there, because this is an opportunity to be around all the thought-leaders and the dreamers at THE most exciting time in US betting history.”
ICE North America (May 13-15 in Boston, MA, USA) will bring together Clarion Gaming’s US assets, GiGse and ICE Sports Betting USA, with the addition of iLottery, esports and affiliate marketing streams, to create a single large-scale event. To find out more about ICE North America, go to icenorthamerica.com.
