Tekkorp Capital CEO Matt Davey has spent the last twenty years in the gaming industry, studying the trends. He can see a bright future for the gaming sector beyond the COVID-19 pandemic and he took some time out to share his thoughts on where the market is going with our very own Becky Liggero Fontana.
Davey thinks that it’s a fascinating time for investors in the US market right now with several trends emerging off the back of an education process for U.S. regulators and operators. “We’ve had regulated online gaming in the US market for the better part of five years and that has grown rapidly,” he said. “I think a couple of lessons that we have learned from that, a lot of Americans did not even know that regulated online gaming was legal in the US. There was a huge education process on behalf of operators particularly in New Jersey for instance.”
The pandemic has accelerated the shift to digital, with players being forced to find entertainment from the confines of home. “So now we have a larger number of states talking about how they put in place the digital side of the regulated market,” Davey said. “Mobile gaming, for instance, was often tacked on as they looked to enhance the land-based regulated side of the industry. We’re seeing that accelerate now, it’s a pretty fascinating time and from all the accounts of operators that I speak to they’re all having record months as people are forced to stay home and engage in this kind of online entertainment.”
With interest rates at record low levels in the marketplace, Davey suggested now is the time to be a buyer. “We’ve seen these incredible deals happen right in the middle of a global pandemic. Draft Kings has gone to being a $40 stock, during the middle of an environment where there are not sports, it’s an amazing performance.”
Davey believes that U.S. investors are still on the hunt for opportunities in the gaming sector as market leaders will look to preserve their position within the industry. “In the U.S., in particular, we have a really competitive but highly fragmented market and we think you’ll see a lot of funds deployed over the next five or ten years as the market leaders look to grow or preserve their competitive position in the industry,” Davey said.
In the full interview, Davey gives an insight on the trends in the U.S. market and the potential growth areas for new investors. Don’t forget to subscribe to the CalvinAyre.com YouTube channel to see all our latest interviews.
