Ryan commits to US deal in second half
bwin.party co-CEO confirms announcement on co-branded US JV for online poker by end of year.
bwin.party will make an announcement on US strategic partners by the end of this year.
“You will definitely hear from us in the second half”, co-CEO Jim Ryan (pictured) told eGR yesterday, after the company told investors at its first-half results presentation that it was “finalising agreements” with potential partners at federal and state level.
Ryan added that “[i]t could entirely be the case” that its JV partner in New Jersey, now reconsidering Senator Raymond Lesniak’s egaming bill – would also be its partner at a federal level. The operator has been strongly linked with providing a poker platform in a regulated US market for four land-based casino groups with properties in Atlantic City, including Boyd Gaming.
Any PartyPoker-powered US-facing platform would be co-branded, said Ryan, taking advantage of Party’s continuing brand equity in the US. “The structure of the deals we are likely to do will be joint venture partnerships. We will be exploiting our brands, and our JV partner will be exploiting their brands. A poker network that would have Party, WPT, Poker Room, and then the brands of our partners.”
Playtech/SciPlay has already announced a deal to provide a poker network on behalf of the California Online Poker Association, to be launched in free-play mode ahead of legislation being considered in early 2012 to allow intrastate cash gaming.
888’s Dragonfish B2B network gained approval from the Nevada Gaming Commission in March for its supplier relationship with Caesars.
bwin.party would also need to complete suitability reviews at both federal and state level to provide a PartyPoker network on behalf of a US casino group, confirmed Ryan.
“We will have to go through suitability review, assuming there is a federal bill, based on whatever legal construct they come up with. At a state and a federal level, we will have to go through suitability.”