HIE and French monopolies make mark on industry in 2009

US CASINO GIANT HARRAH’S’ new egaming division and the French horse racing and lottery monopolies make their Power 50 debut among the big hitters in the upper realms of this year’s ranking of the leading egaming operators.

Harrah’s Interactive Entertainment (HIE), in at 19, has yet to launch online, but has several major factors in its favour which position it to be one of the major players in both Europe and the US.

The US land-based casinos’ formidable lobbying power traditionally gives them a significant say in the shape of US federal gaming legislation, and HIE has the financial firepower to leverage against its parent company’s globally recognised World Series of Poker and Caesar’s brands.

One of the few shocks of the 2009 Power 50 saw 888 drop out of the Top 10 following a period during which its business-to-consumer arm suffered badly. However, the deal 888’s B2B division Dragonfish signed with HIE to roll out Harrah’s poker and casino brands since this year’s Power 50 was compiled is expected to spearhead a dramatic reversal in its fortunes.

The largest tote in Europe, France’s Pari Mutuel Urbain (PMU), and the French lottery monopoly, Francaise des Jeux (FDJ), are among the three highest new entries in this year’s Power 50, debuting at 14 and 13 respectively.

PMU has major plans for fixed-odds betting products, which it hopes to have ready for next year’s football World Cup and is currently in talks with sportsbook technology providers to be ready in time, even if the French football team is far from certain to qualify at the moment.

FDJ has a wide range of lottery and instant win games and signed up for online bingo with Nyx Interactive in May. The French parliament is expected to approve the proposed legal framework for online gaming on 7 October, even though major questions still remain over the taxation levels for online sports betting.

PKR and Gaming VC are two of the other main climbers this year, the former rising to 18 from last year’s position of 33, and Gaming VC rising to 17 from 26 last year mainly on the basis of its strategically clever acquisition of South American operator Betboo, a strong operator in Brazil.