Gambling in the USA
Tech Innovation: The Key to Cracking North America
With major corporations spending big to corner the US online gaming market, smaller operators need to be smarter than ever to compete. But technology that can increase efficiency and help get the marketing right means everyone’s got a shot, says Flows.
For operators looking to enter the US market, how important is it to get the tech right?
It’s probably the most important consideration. Entering the US market has proved to be very challenging for many operators. Major corporations, from Caesars, to MGM Resorts, to Fox, are splashing huge amounts of money on acquiring players. Last year, Caesars vowed to spend $1 billion marketing its sport betting app in the ensuing 24 to 30 months. It’s very difficult to compete with that.
Meanwhile, the US landscape is a hodgepodge of different regulations with several individual requirements for each state. Adapting costs resources and time.
Faced with these hurdles, its crucial operators adopt technologies that can help them with personalised customer engagement, while streamlining roadmaps and offering regulatory agility.
How should operators approach acquisition and retention in the face of such competition?
For operators entering the US market that don’t have a spare $1 billion to splash, differentiation is key, not only in the look and feel they present and content they offer, but also in how they introduce themselves to the market.
It’s also important to think about the way you engage with customers and the type of customer you want to target. Creating a first-class user experience is vital in helping you to stand out and places you ahead of the competition. That experience is about much more than just the onboarding process or the initial content offering you present to your customers.
Creating a personalised experience is vital in the US, where brands are competing fiercely for a share of the market, and it’s important that your technology supports that.
Bettors’ playing habits and needs are ever-changing. Offering personalised, localised and tailored promotions helps to improve the relationship you have with your bettors, increases loyalty and reduces acquisition cost.
Once you build trust, it’s much easier for you to build a loyal customer base. To do this, it’s important to think about the initial experience and journey you are creating for every new customer and continuing to create for every existing loyal customer.
How should we use technology to build personalization?
Creating a personalised marketing strategy requires a level of creativity to ensure that you can offer something remarkable.
Consider tailoring your acquisition and retention campaigns by offering registration bets on demand, for example, or personalised birthday promotions for your VIP customers. You could offer a ‘weather bonus’, based on a player’s location, to cheer them up when it’s raining, or tailored free bets based on a bettor’s team/sports preference. Ultimately there are unlimited options in what you can do, providing you have the right tools in place.
Consumers are demanding, and recent studies suggest consumers in general are becoming less brand loyal. Personalization is the antidote to this. Some 80% of US consumers said they were more likely to make a purchase from a brand that provided personalized experiences, according to Epsilon. Meanwhile, 90 percent said the find marketing personalization very or somewhat appealing, per a Statista study.
The bottom line is, if your new US customers don’t feel they’re getting the right kind of love, they will go elsewhere, and it’s unlikely they will come back.
How can operators better equip themselves to negotiate the US regulatory landscape?
You need to have a control panel that allows for a flexible regulatory approach in several regions. Software that allows you to configure disparate regulatory requirements, rather than having to develop them individually each time, is a must-have.
Regulatory authorities don’t tend to give much notice, which can disrupt an organisation’s road map. This can be alleviated with the right tech, as certain regulatory directives and checks can be implemented directly on demand. It’s about agility and efficiency.
Smaller operators may lack resources of the big corporations, but can they make up for that by being more agile and efficient?
To a degree, yes. Most businesses today struggle with roadmaps that tend to end up with an ever-growing backlog of development requests coming in from several different business departments. As a backlog grows, it’s typical to also see that several trivial tasks end up taking months to complete since they are blocked in a queue behind bigger tasks.
But now, technology exists that can automate digital processes, build digital features, and produce applications without the need for coding.
With Flows, we can bring many items off the development backlog by allowing business units to implement those features and tasks directly through a no-code interface that everyone can work with.
This spreads the control of a business roadmap across more departments and relieves the pressure from development teams who will in turn gain more time to focus and execute properly on bigger development tasks.
You’ve previously said that the gambling industry should be more willing to share things like API’s and open-source technology. Why is this important?
The gambling industry, more than most other industries, is one that is made up of a large number of providers: payments, games, KYC, platforms, etc. Through more open APIs, innovation can come from 3rd parties that create middleware software that leverages APIs from multiple providers all at once. Ultimately, making this more accessible makes it much easier for the industry to streamline work processes and become more innovative and efficient.
Snoqualmie Casino & Hotel has officially opened its newly expanded non-smoking gaming floor, marking a significant milestone in the property’s continued commitment to exceptional guest experiences.
Located adjacent to the hotel lobby, the new, larger non-smoking slot floor will feature nearly 400 of today’s most popular slot machines in a fresh, modern environment designed exclusively for non-smoking guests. This addition enhances the casino’s dedication to providing smoke-free gaming options in a luxury setting. For convenience and ease of access, non-smoking guests can also take advantage of the smoke-free entrance via the hotel’s valet parking.
This new space complements Snoqualmie Casino & Hotel’s existing fully enclosed, non-smoking slot area near Falls Buffet and Snoqualmie Café & Deli, offering guests even more choice and accessibility when it comes to their preferred gaming environment.
In addition to these gaming enhancements, all restaurants on property are 100% non-smoking, making Snoqualmie Casino & Hotel a premier destination for guests seeking an elevated, smoke-free entertainment and dining experience.
“We’re thrilled to offer our guests even more smoke-free options. The expansion of our non-smoking gaming floor reflects our ongoing efforts to listen to our guests and create an atmosphere that’s both exciting and comfortable for everyone,” said Mary Lou Patterson, CEO of Snoqualmie Casino & Hotel.
Gambling in the USA
Abbiati Casino Equipment and Hawkins Holdings Form Strategic Alliance to Expand Presence Across the Americas
Abbiati Casino Equipment, a globally recognised leader in premium casino equipment and technologies, announced a strategic partnership with Hawkins Holdings to strengthen its presence across North and South America. As part of this initiative, seasoned gaming executive Roger Hawkins has been appointed Brand Ambassador and Strategic Consultant for the Americas.
With more than 20 years of executive leadership in the global casino and gaming industry, Hawkins will spearhead the company’s efforts to expand its footprint throughout the Western Hemisphere. His role will include market development, strategic partnerships, regulatory positioning, and the promotion of Abbiati’s legacy of Italian innovation, craftsmanship, and integrity.
“This partnership is about more than market entry – it’s about building deeper awareness, driving product adoption, and reinforcing Abbiati’s commitment to quality across every pit and poker room in the hemisphere,” said Hawkins.
Giorgio Abbiati, CEO of Abbiati Casino Equipment, said: “We have proudly served clients in the Americas for many years, but the time is right to deepen our focus. Roger’s knowledge of our products and his insight into the market make him the ideal partner to lead this next phase.”
Gambling in the USA
Catawba Two Kings Casino Resort Rising in Kings Mountain as First Year of Construction is Completed
Significant construction has been completed during the first year of work on the $1 billion Catawba Two Kings Casino Resort in Kings Mountain, N.C., a site off Interstate-85 only 35 miles from Charlotte and close to the South Carolina border.
Construction on all aspects of the project is in full swing, with the foundations for the casino complex and hotel completed several months ago, the casino complex at its full height and expanding horizontally, and steel continuing to rise for the 24-story, 385-room hotel. The hotel tower framing is now 10 stories high, with an additional floor being added nearly every week. At completion, the hotel will be connected to the casino complex.
The casino complex includes the introductory casino on the first level, three levels of covered parking, a back-of-house level and top level with the main casino floor and restaurants. The introductory casino, set to open in spring 2026, will include 1350 slot machines, 20 table games, a 40-seat restaurant, a bar, sports betting kiosks, and Lucky North Rewards desk.
The introductory casino will replace the current temporary (prelaunch) casino, which continues to grow in popularity as it nears its fourth anniversary on July 1.
The main casino complex is targeted to open in 2027. It will be about 2 million square feet and feature:
• 4300 slot machines
• 100 table games
• 11 dining outlets, including a steakhouse, Italian restaurant, marketplace with six venues, café, and grab-and-go outlet
• A players lounge
• 11 bars, including a center bar and sports bar
• A 2700-space parking garage built under the casino complex and 800 surface parking spaces
The project has created hundreds of construction jobs. Upon completion, the casino resort will employ an estimated 2200 regional residents and citizens of the Catawba Nation.
“This casino resort will be an economic game changer for Catawba citizens and a force to drive the economy of Cleveland County and the City of Kings Mountain. This project is a testament to our resilience, our commitment to self-sufficiency, and our determination to build a better future for ourselves and our future generations,” Catawba Nation Chief Brian Harris said.
Harris noted the temporary casino is contributing to many community and charitable organizations in the region, and that will only increase as the full casino resort opens.
The project is being led by the Catawba Nation Gaming Authority under Vice President Trent Troxel, with Yates-Metcon as the construction general contractor; Delaware North as the gaming management, development and hospitality consultant; and SOSHNY Design architects.
“Once again, I want to thank the Cleveland County, City of Kings Mountain, federal and state leaders who have supported the Catawba Nation’s efforts develop the casino resort in its ancestral lands in North Carolina,” Harris said.
Work has also been completed on two key infrastructure projects for development of the permanent casino resort that were funded by the Catawba Nation: doubling the size of the Dixon School Road Bridge over I-85 near the casino entrance and installing new sewer lines near the casino.
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