It could have been a testing time for GAN (GameAccount Network), the tech provider behind WynnBet’s online sportsbook when the entertainment giant consolidated its nationwide betting presence by exiting several states this summer.
Instead, the gambling infrastructure supplier has set an ambitious growth plan.
WynnBet’s withdrawal from eight gambling markets across the nation shrunk GAN’s own US footprint. But the platform developer announced in late October that it had gained approval from the Nevada Gaming Commission to launch its sports betting platform in the Silver State.
It’s a move that comes at a key moment in GAN’s direction of travel and could have future implications for sports betting in New York.
Beneath the hood of any sportsbook is a software platform powering its front-facing customer interface.
That typically comprises odds formulations, market listings and trends, plus user intelligence reporting and risk management data.
Such sports betting services are licensed to gambling operators. The biggest and best-known include SBTech, BetGenius and Kambi. That trio plus a handful of others are the data-driven powerhouses behind some of the most popular gambling companies in the world.
In New York terms, DraftKings bought out SBTech in 2021, BetGenius is partnered with FanDuel, and Kambi operates with BetRivers while BallyBet is currently completing a transition to its services.
New sportsbook brand Fanatics is using Amelco to underpin its platform. While it’s not yet live in New York, the acquisition of PointsBet earlier in the year has provided Fanatics with a way into sports betting in the state.
Fanatics is expected to roll out its provision and transition users in the Empire State to its new platform in the coming months, as it has done in other states where it took over licenses from PointsBet.
Meanwhile, BetMGM’s sportsbook uses proprietary platform technology from partner Entain, which is one of the most advanced in the industry.
Since launching in 2002, GAN has established solid roots in North America as a leading online and land-based casino, igaming and sportsbook tech and software provider.
Headquartered in Irvine, California, GAN has licenses of its own to operate in nine US states as well in a number in Europe and Latin America. GAN hooked up with WynnBet in December 2022.
The company is expected to provide gaming and gambling solutions for Station Casinos, one of the dominant players in the Las Vegas scene. That includes Station’s Red Rock retail sportsbooks and casinos in Southern Nevada.
Following a period of restructuring this year, GAN’s entry into Nevada is notable. The gaming mecca state recorded a recorded total handle of $8.7 billion in 2022.
That figure is dwarfed by New York however, which recorded a combined income from wagers of almost double that of Nevada for the same period at $16.2 billion. Combining Nevada and New York’s wagering revenue is therefore huge.
GAN’s new CEO Seamus McGill has recently been clear that the firm’s Nevada move comes with a vision to accelerate its sportsbook push and expand its Wynn's Strip operations while sitting side by side with WynnBet as a partner elsewhere in the US.
That statement of intent from GAN can only be welcome news to WynnBet execs as they refocus efforts to grow in New York in particular.
With Wynn still eyeing potential routes into new brick-and-mortar casinos and sportsbooks as well as driving its online offering in the Empire State, GAN’s expanding knowhow in Nevada could prove to be a key strategic driver for success in New York over the next few years.
