Charming, bustling and historic are three words I would use to describe London. A few weeks ago, I visited this stunning city for the annual ICE show, one of the largest international gaming tradeshows. Held from February 5 to 7 at the ExCeL Convention Centre, TransAct displayed its leading printer and system solutions for casino, gaming and lottery.
Although I have been working in marketing for over five years, I’m still learning the ropes of the gaming industry since joining TransAct last May. Before I left for the trip, I had a goal in mind to soak up as much information as I could about the gaming trends in Europe.
One of the most prominent topics that I noticed was the UK’s commitment to implementing responsible gaming initiatives. In fact, the UK’s Gambling Commission recently announced that it is planning to accelerate progress in its drive to keep Britain’s gambling industry fair and safe. TransAct is well equipped to support this initiative with Epicentral, the company’s enterprise-level promotion and bonusing software suite. Epicentral provides a way to communicate to players at the EGM or VLT while the player is playing, allowing the casino operator to deliver incentives, including responsible gambling messages. I’m happy to say that the Hippodrome Casino in London is one of the casinos implementing this practice through Epicentral with much success.
While America continues to increase its jurisdictions on sports betting, I learned that it has been legalized in many European countries for quite some time. For example, according to Oddsshark.com, sports betting is a booming industry in Germany with over $5 billion wagered on sports in 2017. Over 47 million Germans bet on sports annually and over 60 percent of Germans who bet on sports do so at least once each week. This gaming sector proves to be a fantastic resource to incorporate TransAct’s Epic 880 roll printer, as it is the industry-leading printer used in established sports betting markets across the world, including much of Europe.
In between client visits and product demos, Armando and I were able to squeeze in some sightseeing, which included a tour of the Tower of London, a view of the Big Ben and a walk around the famous Buckingham Palace. I was charmed by the city’s rich culture and history, and I can’t wait to return to continue to learn more about the European gambling market and to promote TransAct’s “Epic” line of products.