- 888 reports a 21% increase in active players over the year and online poker revenues have increased 7% on 2012’s results.
- CEO Brian Mattingly explains that it is “a result of the continued and relentless execution of our stated poker strategy of focusing on recreational players and providing them with a safe and enjoyable ecosystem.”
Followers of 888’s quarterly reports will find no surprise in the annual figures over the last year: online poker revenues have increased 7% on 2012’s results. But when considered in context—in an industry where other company results invariably post year-on-year declines, and dot-com cash game traffic down over 10%—the figures cannot fail to impress.
888poker moved into second place in the cash game rankings in December, right at the end of the corporate reporting year—and this fact gets more than one repetition in the annual report.
At the beginning of February pokerfuse reported that 888’s year-on-year growth in cash game traffic was 13%, with 35% growth in the previous six months. 888 reports a 21% increase in active players over the year.
CEO Brian Mattingly is clear about the source of 888’s success.
“[It is] a result of the continued and relentless execution of our stated poker strategy of focusing on recreational players and providing them with a safe and enjoyable ecosystem,” he stated.
Marketing spend reached $140m—a new high for 888—up from $131m in 2012; The report notes an increased spend on “poker marketing initiatives in our core UK market.” The UK accounts for over $163m of the group’s $400m in total revenues.
Revenues from Europe are a similar size, with $46m coming from the Americas and just $29m from the “rest of the world.” The RoW figure is actually in decline, down over $4.5m on 2012 figures.
888 has done particularly well in Spain, where it has a 17% cash game traffic share, and attributes its 14% growth in Europe to its success there and in the Italian market.
Americas revenues were up 22% and that gain was described as the “result of our successful launch in the US.” 888 software is used exclusively in Delaware, it is used by WSOP Nevada and WSOP New Jersey, and 888 has its own branded room on the All American Poker Network NJ. The mix of B2B and B2C channels means that it has managed to enter the US market with lower start up costs than many of its competitors.
Mattingley suggested that the management resources freed up by the successful opening of US operations could be used in part to further develop the company’s mobile offering.
“Whilst we have made good progress in developing our touch platforms to date, this market is still in its infancy and will offer much more to learn and leverage as it develops,” summarized Mattingley.
