Kambi executive duo to reunite at PAM supplier Strive Gaming

Kambi executive duo Damian Xuereb and Max Meltzer have been hired to lead operations for US player account management (PAM) igaming platform Strive Gaming.

Ex-VP of sales Xuereb will assume the role of president and CCO effective immediately, while Meltzer will become CEO in the summer after officially leaving his position as Kambi CCO.

Strive Gaming is a proprietary PAM platform with a roadmap and development team focused purely on solving challenges faced by operators in the US market.

It will enter the jurisdiction with its new INFINITY engine that pledges to drive higher lifetime values by bringing operators closer to their players through automation and real-time engagement.

The company’s new development team will be situated in the US and Europe with customer-serving offices in both the States and Canada.

Betsson Group is widely expected to be the first confirmed partner of Strive Gaming, having last month acquired a 35% stake in the business for $6.5m.

The operator will look to engage in B2B proprietary sportsbook deals with operators following an initial B2C launch in Colorado, while Strive Gaming will make its services available to other sportsbook suppliers in the market as a plug-in solution.

Damian Xuereb, president and CCO of Strive Gaming, said: “This is a new era of igaming PAMs in North America and US operators now have more choice and a new partner to consider that knows what they need and want.

“Strive has carefully considered and understood the shape of the US sports and casino market. As a result, it has built a US-centric solution that is battle tested and delivers operator performance at scale while solving the many challenges faced by modern day US operators.

“The speed of regulation across multiple deployment topologies and unique US workflows means that operators need a PAM partner that can deliver speed to market, agility and a future proof solution,” he added.

More and more, US operators are considering bringing their PAM technology in-house, particularly as competition heats up in the market.

President at online gaming giant Rush Street Interactive Richard Schwartz last year said many operators didn’t realize the value of a good PAM.

“I feel that the quality differences between platforms is under-appreciated as it feels like many in the industry feel like all PAMs perform similar functions so will perform similarly,” Schwartz told EGR. 

“Just like not all sportsbooks are the same quality, not all PAMs are the same in quality either, some convert and retain players materially better and have all kinds of functionality that makes them perform at premium levels.

“Many operators want to pay as little as possible for a PAM, not recognizing nor appreciating the massive disparity in performance between how the higher quality and average ones,” he added.