Q&A: Tropicana's new online VP Christopher Capra on his plans for the business

Former 888 marketing exec Christopher Capra was named as Tropicana’s new VP of online and internet marketing last month.

EGR North America caught up with Capra to find out about his strategy in the increasingly competitive New Jersey market.

Q: Congrats on the new role Chris, can you share some of your broader plans for the Tropicana online business?

A: I’m fortunate to have been handed the keys to an excellent online site that is top in the market in NJ. Right now I’m gathering up as much information as possible in order to formulate the marketing strategy for the year. There is a great opportunity and appetite here for the online casino and the land-based property to be closer in their offerings, player development, and player experience. Everything we do for TropicanaCasino.com will be about fulfilling the Tropicana brand promise of “MORE” for our players.

Q: And can you share any specific changes like new products you may look to add?

A: We saw a lot of new games for the online casino at ICE. A few that stood out are SNG tournament slots, true skill-based games (not slots masquerading as skill games) and very innovative, mobile sports betting apps. The online casino is a great place to try out new games and new verticals as long as you put the marketing muscle behind them. Gamesys has a pretty strong product roadmap and we are working closely together to add new games, payments, promotions etc., to enhance the online player experience.

Q: It sounds like you are already looking at sports betting apps then?

A: Steve Callender and I spend the better part of our time at ICE meeting potential partners, looking at new and innovative software and furthering our ideas and plans for sports betting in NJ and potentially beyond.  All I can say right now is, when sports betting comes to U.S, Tropicana will be ready for it.

Q: What do you make of the Gamesys platform so far?

One of the first meetings I had upon joining Tropicana was with the Gamesys team in NJ and with the management team in London during ICE. I’ve been very impressed with them, they are a good operator and our partnership with them has been successful. The most important thing, in my opinion, is that we are aligned in our goals, operational approach and dedication to the player experience. My objective in the first few months is to smooth out any rough edges in our processes (we all have them!), align our teams to a common set of goals and get us working seamlessly together.

Q: What have you learnt from your previous roles in the New Jersey market that you can bring to Tropicana?

A big lesson I took away from my last role was how powerful it was to work with a land-based casino, especially when you can develop a multichannel approach that included mail, email, on premise marketing and activation. In that last role, I had to work in a partnership arrangement which limited the level of integration we could achieve. With Tropicana, I can fully incorporate the brick & mortar casino into the online, creating an omni-channel experience for the players.

Q: You have a lot of experience in NJ online poker with 888, would you consider adding it to Tropicana’s offering?

A: I love poker because it can be a good marketing and publicity channel for the casino, when promoted properly. That being said, I’m still bearish on entering the market even with the potential addition of a shared player pool with Pennsylvania later this year. I know first-hand how difficult it is to turn a profit in poker, and until another state or two with a significant populations (Such as NY) enter and share liquidity, it is going to be difficult to make the business case for an investment in the game online.