In October 2023, B2B gaming technology and solutions provider Inspired Entertainment signed a landmark agreement with the National Basketball Association (NBA), securing rights to develop Virtual Sports games centered around the league’s archived footage.
The NBA-themed offering, alongside Hybrid Dealer, a new product category that blends physical and digital elements to offer branded casino and gameshow content, are among the sporting licenses, product categories, hardware, and cross-platform content that the company is set to showcase at ICE’s final edition in London, being held February 6 – 8 at ExCel.
In an interview with Yogonet on the backdrop of this mega event, Inspired Entertainment’s CEO Brooks Pierce said the company believes its strong product portfolio will appeal to operators worldwide, and discussed the positive momentum across the company’s operations.
What will be the main novelties that Inspired will present and focus on at ICE London this year? Will you be showcasing any new products or services this time around?
Inspired is set to impress at ICE 2024 with its array of new licenses, product categories, hardware, and content. Inspired signed an agreement with the NBA securing the rights to develop Virtual Sports games centered around the world’s premier professional basketball league’s archived footage. The NBA-themed Virtual Sports include a variety of NBA imagery, including all 30 team logos and NBA-archived footage from the regular season, NBA All-Star Game, NBA Playoffs, and NBA Finals.
We’ll also be showcasing a revolutionary product category, Hybrid Dealer. This unique offering combines branded table and gameshow content for online play, eliminating the challenges of live-dealer products. The games are RNG-generated and require no physical studios, offering operators unlimited branding and customization options in a cost-effective manner. With 24/7 scheduled action and rotating hosts, Hybrid Dealer provides flexibility like never before.
Given ICE London’s status as one of the major global events in the industry, what are your expectations and objectives for the expo?
We’re expecting an extremely busy and successful show. Our objective is to “wow” our customers — to strengthen our partnerships and make sure they continue to see us as innovators in the industry by demoing a new product category, Hybrid Dealer, and showcasing a diverse portfolio of content of new iGaming and land-based games, mechanics, brands and promotional tools.
What markets will Inspired focus on at the expo?
We have customers coming in for ICE from all our key markets — North America, Greece, Italy, and of course the UK. Because travel is easier for them, we do see more of our European customers at ICE than at, say, G2E in Las Vegas. We believe that Inspired’s strong product portfolio across our business segments will appeal to operators worldwide.
Inspired’s Interactive business has seen impressive growth as of late, what would you attribute that to?
Inspired’s Interactive business is on a 204-week winning streak, growing steadily in gameplay, turnover, and revenue since mid-December 2019, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 47% over the last three years. Every second, almost four times as many players are placing bets on Inspired games as in 2020 — thanks to Inspired’s combination of great games and great people.
Across the 30+ regulated markets where Inspired operates, volumes of gameplay and turnover in 2023 surpassed the combined turnover from 2015 to 2019. 2023’s average weekly revenue was 31 times that of 2016 and 8.5 times that of 2019.
Great games are responsible for much of this growth, but so is Inspired’s dedication to fostering strong relationships with customers. We’ve built strategic and enduring relationships through robust communication that lets us understand each customer’s business needs and empowers us to cater to their specific requirements.
The event comes as we enter a new year for gambling. What is your assessment of the company’s performance in 2023, and what should we expect from it in 2024?
Inspired had a great 2023. We’re hoping for an even stronger 2024, which is why we are so excited to showcase some of our key product launches. We view ourselves as a content provider regardless of whether the setting is retail or online, and we are focused and driven to provide engaging content in whatever way our customers’ players interact with our products.
