A New York-based online slot provider has brought its product to the Canadian market in the wake of the recent industry boom.
Everi Holdings have a hand in both land-based casinos and online slots, but bring their expertise to Canada through the latter, in conjunction with Canadian provincial lottery operator Loto-Quebec. The move will see new titles from Everi’s range added to the Loto-Quebec online offering, broadening their appeal, and hopefully securing extra revenue for both companies during a challenging period.
“Everi is delighted to extend our games and FinTech partnership with Lotoquebec.com to bring our high-performing game content that dominates in land-based casinos and is a proven performer with our other leading online partner-operators to online players in Pennsylvania and New Jersey,” said David Lucchese, Everi executive vice president of sales, marketing, and digital.
“This partnership demonstrates our continued digital gaming expansion and reaffirms our commitment to leveraging our ultramodern RGS platform to provide our world-class slot games to the growing community of online players in Quebec and beyond.”
Whilst Everi does have interests on both sides of the gaming divide, it is interesting that the online sector is where the current expansion is seen, especially given the hit land-based establishments have had in recent months. The recent situation around the world saw many casinos close, including those in Ontario. That came as a further blow to the industry, which has been forced to contend with stiff competition from the online sector.
Accessibility is one reason the online market is growing quickly, with players able to indulge from the comfort of their own homes. With a wider range of games on offer than ever before, and with that spectrum widening in Canada thanks to this link-up, players are almost spoiled for choice. The prizes on offer via online slots are also comparable with brick and mortar casinos, making it even more attractive to players. An article on the largest ever slot jackpots by Gala Spins reveals that the single biggest prize won on an online slot machine was won in the United Kingdom, with a lucky customer winning £13.2m ($23m). With big prizes and instant availability, there is little wonder the online slot business is booming, especially as the world edges into an uncertain economic future.
Everi’s latest move comes in a bid to offset its losses in the first part of 2020. The company announced a large drop in revenue year on year, bringing in just $38.7 million, down from the $129.7 million it saw in the same period for 2019. That resulted in a net loss of $68.5 million, although they stressed the impact wasn’t as bad as they feared and the credited fast opening of casinos with lessening the impact.
Their partners in the Canada venture, Loto-Quebec, are also looking to recover from a damaging first half of 2020. CBC reports that they have announced that they are trimming 2,250 employees, as well as bringing in a wage and hiring freeze as they too look to offset the impact of recent enforced closures.
They will be hoping that the partnership with Everi also brings them a lift in revenues as they move towards the end of the year, hopefully putting both businesses back on the right track.
