New owners of the Ongame Network, Amaya Gaming Group Inc., have announced a global licensing deal with Playboy Enterprises. The two companies will collaborate on new ventures in online poker and lotteries. The first Playboy branded sites are planned for 2013.
Scott Flanders, CEO of Playboy believes that online poker and the Playboy brand are a natural fit: “The Playboy lifestyle is about indulging our passions, and we are focused on bringing content, products and experiences to consumers around the globe that define this lifestyle.”
Playboy previously offered online gaming using the Cryptologic Network, but that deal ended in Jan 2009. The introduction of the UIGEA made it impractical for Playboy to offer gambling to the US market and Cryptologic made a strategic decision to put an end to its network and move its players to Boss Media. Playboy chose to close rather than follow the other skins across.
Cryptologic changed strategic focus to become a specialist supplier of casino games to other companies and in April 2012 was bought by Amaya. Playboy’s decision to partner with Amaya will have been influenced by their previous relationship and experience with Cryptologic.
Amaya’s CEO David Baazov is optimistic about the relationship with Playboy. “With its tremendous online audience and boasting one of the highest unaided global awareness and social media user engagements of any brand, we’re confident that our collaboration with Playboy will be a recipe for success and look forward to guiding them in their online endeavors.”
Notorious founder of Playboy, 86 year old Hugh Hefner took the company back into private ownership in March 2011. He appointed himself “Chief Creative Officer” leaving the operational and administrative functions in the hands of a professional CEO. The company’s strategy has been to create partnerships with other organizations and use the Playboy brand to drive customer acquisition.
