Light & Wonder CEO says live casino opportunity will need “nailing and scaling”
Matt Wilson insists optimization in Michigan the plan for the near-term, before expanding offering across other regulated igaming states
Light & Wonder CEO Matt Wilson has said the supplier is planning on “nailing and scaling” its live dealer operations before approaching the US market at large.
Speaking on an analyst call following the firm’s Q4 results, Wilson was pushed on the company’s plans for the vertical after launching in Michigan in October.
The live casino market is dominated by Stockholm-listed Evolution, and Wilson was questioned by analysts on his thoughts on the competitor.
While Wilson was not drawn specifically into talking about Evolution, he instead opted to lay out a bullish forward outlook for his firm.
With Light & Wonder live in Michigan with BetRivers, via live dealer content from Authentic Gaming, the CEO said the plan for the short term was to secure the Great Lake State as an optimized market.
Wilson said: “We see live dealer as a multi-year opportunity. We believe in the outlook for igaming. States will legalize naturally over the coming years, and so, we look into the future and say this will be a large and active market.
“It’s a natural extension of our end market. It’s a market we are going to be in, and we are going to position ourselves for the long term. In the near term, it is about nailing and scaling.
“In Michigan [we can] get it to a point where we’ve ironed everything out and we’re optimized, and at that point, we can naturally move into other markets,” he added.
Wilson proceeded to note the firm had been approached by other operators in regulated igaming states to take the vertical live, but he insisted Michigan was the focus for the meanwhile.
He continued: “We have no shortage of demand to take the product into other states but we want to make sure we’ve got Michigan completely nailed down.
“It’s going to be vibrant over the coming years, and my responsibility is to position the business for success in perpetuity and live dealer is a natural space for us to participate in.”
Elsewhere, Light & Wonder ploughed an undisclosed strategic investment into no-code automation firm Flows at the start of February.