The BetonSports crisis in the USA may have discouraged Party Gaming
executives from travel in that country, but the Gibraltar based online
gambling group is to go ahead with a major advertising campaign for
its PartyCasino site.
Last week at a press conference on the group's latest positive business
results, PartyGaming executives admitted they had "no imminent
plans" to travel to the United States and would seek legal advice
if it was necessary. But they stressed they would not be driven out
of the lucrative American market by the confusing legal situation.
Chief executive Mitch Garber said that unlike online poker, where
big marketing campaigns have driven soaring revenues, the company's
casino games have not been marketed before. The group intends to rectify
this with a "strong branding campaign" across Europe and
North America for its PartyCasino website, which was launched earlier
this year and now offers 39 games including blackjack and slots.
Garber said the action against BetonSports would not stop his company
from "legally marketing in the US" through a variety of
channels - internet, television, radio, newspapers and sponsorship
deals. A PartyGaming spokesman later said a lot of the advertising
would be online. "We've had success with PartyCasino even
before we've pumped up the advertising," he added, revealing
that Blackjack was a huge hit when it was launched last October.
PartyGaming runs poker and casino websites and gets 76 per cent of
its revenues from the US, but does not take sports bets over the telephone,
which is banned explicitly by the 1961 Wire Act and at the heart of
the charges leveled against BetonSports.
Casino games currently notch up net daily revenues of $800 000 while
poker generates $2.7 million. The group recently added backgammon
and bingo to its offering.