Originally published: KPMG Isle of Man eGaming Summit, 2019
In the hotel conference room during a company off-site meeting, a team of female executives have gathered to celebrate another record-breaking performance. Gross gaming revenue and profits at near triple-digit growth; with some of the best retention rates and lowest acquisition costs the industry has ever seen; all secured through their brand-loyal customer base.
They sit down to watch a preview of their company’s national advertising campaign for the upcoming football season, featuring a group of ladies sharing a drink in the pub while placing bets on their phones with Women’s Super League playing on the TV.
A vision of the future or an implausible scenario in an industry known for its male dominance?
Julian Perigo, Managing Director of Boston Link, investigates
Although it’s difficult to determine precise numbers, industry observers estimate around 10 - 20% of senior management roles in iGaming are held by women. In their most recent gender pay gap report, Playtech announced that just 17% of upper-quartile earners in their organisation are women.
Some gaming executives might tell you (off the record of course) that this isn’t an issue commercially– the vast majority of their revenue comes from men. Why have a diverse workforce when you don’t have a diverse customer base? Men understand men best, right? If there
is some truth in this statement then surely by the same logic it’s about time that we saw a sportsbook-led operator run by women, for women.
A recent report in EGR asked ‘Why did gambling operators ignore the Women’s World Cup?’ – arguing that betting operators were nowhere to be seen at one of the summer’s biggest tournaments. It went on to point out that betting companies still don’t see the returns from chasing female punters.
As gaming companies are still largely male-dominated, and marketing campaigns are still targeting men – could it be that they simply don’t acknowledge the market exists and are failing to excite and monetise this opportunity? Are female bettors sitting on the sidelines, waiting for the right product to capture their imagination?
On the assumption that women prefer to bet on women’s sport (which may of course be an incorrect assumption based on my pre-dispositions as a man) then clearly there can no longer be the argument that there aren’t enough high-profile, exciting, live games to bet on.
This summer alone has seen major events of the Football World Cup, Wimbledon, Women’s Cricket and the thrilling European win in the Solheim Cup. In the UK, more people watched England’s opening game in the Women’s World Cup than England’s opening game in the Men’s tournament in 2018; and more people watched the Women’s semi-final against USA than the Men’s Champions League final.
In horse-racing, women entering the racing industry now out-number men at a ratio of nearly 70:30. Women’s sports are on the rise and this will undoubtedly encourage more women to enjoy a flutter.
In my job I meet many founders of gaming companies, and the vast majority of them are men. Maybe this is because there aren’t enough female role models in the industry. Maybe it’s because there’s unconscious bias amongst the male-dominated worlds of PE and VC that they don’t back female talent.
Ewa Bakun, Director of Industry Insight and Engagement at Clarion Gaming, agrees with this observation. In Sept 2019 she wrote “Do start-ups have a gender? Those in gambling do and it’s male. Just 4 of 228 applications for Clarion Gaming’s start-up competitions in the last four years have been led by female founders.”
The industry has done a lot to address gender imbalance in recent years and there are many more women in leadership roles, but until companies are built from the ground-up around female customers, we’re unlikely to see substantial and lasting change. Addressing the issue at this ‘grassroots’ level will also remove any unconscious bias that takes place in organisations with more male executives.
Could a business that flips the current ratios on their head – 80 - 90% of executive positions filled by women, backed by female investors, with product and marketing aimed at a female audience betting predominantly on women’s sport – one day become a FTSE250 business?
I’d wager it could.
As experts in sourcing the best iGaming talent and firm believers in creating match-winning teams through equality and diversity, Boston Link would love to partner with such a company to help them reach their full potential. If you know of any, please get in touch!