The second day of MiGS 2015 was just as busy as the first with several hundred iGaming professionals gathering at Malta’s Corinthia Hotel for a day full of networking and sessions.
A number of delegates were feeling a bit delicate today due to the previous evening’s BiG Foundation Dinner, an evening dedicated to raising money for charity. The event was hosted at one of Malta’s finest restaurants, Caviar and Bull, with 160 guests enjoying a Michelin star quality meal and endless wine but most importantly, raising over €10,000 for St. Jude’s and the Puttinu Cares Foundation.
Football legend John Barnes attended the BiG Dinner and also participated in today’s “Sport and Betting” panel. The discussion revolved around corruption in sportsbetting and match-fixing and how our industry can work together to combat such issues.
Barnes said educating young sportsmen on why its bad to get involved with match-fixing is the key. He said the temptation is great for young players, especially if they are in a lower division and not making a lot of money. “Stop them before they even want to do it…educate…that’s really the end game, that’s the solution”, he said.
Moderator Lee Richardson asked Barnes and the rest of the panellists what we can do as an industry in the future to prevent match-fixing. Barnes reiterated the importance of deterring sportsmen from getting involved in the first place. Improving communication between operators, regulators and sporting associations and having one point of contact in each country for operators to send information to be analysed were points also mentioned.
Today’s “Mobile Continues to Make Waves” panel covered topics such as omni-channel offerings, importance of demographics and connectivity issues.
Simon Hammon of NetEnt talked on how his company has entered the retail space and how important it is for their players to have a seamless experience between retail shops and mobile offerings.
Hammon also talked on demographics and said mobile offerings tend to bring in younger customers and to keep this in mind for branded content. “You must keep in line with the key demographic”, he said. In five years the mobile offering demographics will change due to aging customers and more disposable income so operators must make sure to cater to those changes and “keep up with the curve”, he said.
David Johnson of NYX agreed and said, “We build games for a particular audience, we don’t just build games to build games”. He used the example of NYX’s James Dean slots that target a slightly older audience. Hammon mentioned NetEnt’s soon to be released Guns ‘N Roses slot game, also targeted to a slightly older male audience who were fans of the band when they were young.
Connectivity issues were also touched on and with the rise of 4G networks, mobile offerings have enjoyed a smoother performance. Johnson added that connectivity for mobile slots is of upmost importance and said it’s a much shorter session play for mobile slots players than desktop, but the value is much higher for mobile players.
Today’s sessions concluded at 3pm and delegates were invited on a harbor cruise sponsored by BMIT, a Malta-based data, cloud & managed service provider. The cruise circulated Malta’s Grand Harbor and offered views of Valletta, The Three Cities and other historical fortifications while serving food and drink for all on board.
This evening delegates were presented with yet another networking opportunity, more drinks and food sponsored by Melchers Law at “The Tower”, a venue located inside the Corinthia Hotel.
