Who’s speaking?
William Hill US CEO Joe Asher is in conversation with Howard Stutz, Executive Editor of CDC Gaming Reports.
What’s this?
This is William Hill’s CEO with the opening keynote content from Betting on Sports America – Digital, which took place on December 1st and 2nd, and offers valuable insight from one of the world’s biggest operators and leading gambling executives.
What’s being said?
Asher talked about his early days in betting, the relationship between stakeholders and official sports leagues and other big issues around the state-by-state approach to the legalization of sports wagering.
He told delegates: “The one thing that I pick out as being a bit of a surprise for me is the firmness of the embrace from the professional sports leagues for sports betting. To go from fighting it so strenuously in the courts to embracing it so firmly is probably more of a surprise.
“We operate a sportsbook inside the Capital One Arena in Washington DC. That’s where the Wizards and the Capitals play – sort of equidistant between the White House and the United States Capital. To go from fighting sports betting to having a sportsbook literally inside of the arena is quite a shift,” he said.
“It’s been great to see the industry – how far it’s come in those 30 months – and and we know it’s going to go over the next 12 to 24.”
Asher also consider the role of the media in generating fan engagement with sports betting. “Fundamentally, we’re investing a lot of money around technology and the product. In my view, over time, product is going to win in this market. And it’s going to be about who has got the most compelling product.
“product is going to be
so critically important”
“Promotional activity wanes over time – product is going to be so critically important. And so we’ve been investing a tremendous amount in product. But then you need a way to get that product into the hands of customers. And what do the media companies have? They have customers. They have folks who watch their platforms, go on their sites and so forth and that’s why you’re seeing these media sports betting deals.”
Why should I watch it?
You should watch because you are keen to learn as much as possible about the flourishing sports betting industry in the US – how to gain a foothold and how to get ahead.
Quite simply, insight does not come any more on-point than this.
Source: SBC YouTube Channel
