Bally Technologies continues to evolve as one of the industry’s innovators, not only within the traditional gaming sector but within the interactive sector as well. Through a series of acquisitions and internal development Bally has quickly become one of the leading interactive technology suppliers within the US and is believed to be expanding internationally in the months to come.
This should be of no surprise to the industry, considering Bally has more than 1,900 R&D employees and some of the leading content within the market today. Many of Bally’s competitors have perhaps underestimated the technology infrastructure Bally has created over the past 85-years within the traditional gaming market. This combined with their recent acquisitions and submission of the Bally iGaming Platform in Nevada and New Jersey, could position Bally in a favorable light against some of the leading European suppliers.
Of all the known online platform suppliers in New Jersey, the only new face on the block appears to be Bally. Indeed Bally earns a gold star for its ability to break into an area traditionally dominated by a few key players in Europe.
Bally has quietly been signing over 80 US casinos to their online mobile solution. This offering provides operators more than 150 casino features they can run on their own unique application and the capability to offer wagering when regulation permits. This solution has already been integrated into the existing Bally system, which is offered to casinos around the US, so players and operators alike can access many of the same marketing/promotional tools on their handheld devices. Clearly Bally has been busy building the necessary infrastructure within the US while many have been focused on the European market.
Bally has also spent the past few years focused on integrating and acquiring a unique product portfolio of content which is more focused on “mirroring the traditional casino floor” than the European suppliers have offered thus far. Bally is quick to point out that within Europe many of the operators fail to have traditional casinos and the market quickly evolved from products unrelated to the core casino business. Since the online licenses in the US are being granted to the traditional casino operators, Bally may have an advantage many have yet to realize.
If Bally continues to secure a library of content that is directly related to brands the US players have grown to know and love, it may be a deciding factor as the US market progresses. This combined with Bally’s ability to integrate their iGaming platform to a traditional casino’s existing system infrastructure, provides a unique attribute the European suppliers have perhaps failed to anticipate.
Players will be able to maintain existing player cards and accounts as they migrate between the traditional casino, mobile and online methods of wagering. This relates to an operator’s ability to bonus these players in ways never seen before in Europe. Existing operators now have the ability to utilize their bricks and mortar casino to provide unique offerings to their online players. Players will have access to free spa visits, hotel stays, restaurant discounts, shows, and more. Operators’ ability to “pull and push” players within their confined network will be a significant advantage over those who fail to have a comparable offering. This appears to be very compelling to casinos looking to expand their business online and utilize existing infrastructure/player bases.
It is hard to mention New Jersey and fail to discuss the regulatory hurdles many companies have been faced with over the past several months. Bally proclaims to be one of the longest standing license holders within this market, with every casino in AC using a Bally core system with the exception of Revel. With that said how this translates into an advantage for Bally is yet to be seen, although there are indications that New Jersey may not be so quick to forget the sins of the past for many of the European companies trying to enter the US.
Bally is quick to express its desire to move internationally, but is hesitant to outline when and where this will take place. What they have been willing to share is that we can expect some ‘significant announcements’ related to this topic before the end of 2013.
