Erik Nyman: "EveryMatrix is primed for accelerated iGaming growth"

EveryMatrix’s global reach is well-established, but the company has made significant moves in the regulated US iGaming and betting markets of late. Erik Nyman, President of Americas at EveryMatrix, walks us through the company’s current operations and outlines its growth plans in the United States and Canada.

The B2B iGaming technology provider has made great progress on both sides of the US-Canada border, growing its localised expertise, and relationships and signing significant partnerships, while strategically launching more leading content and platform solutions. Nyman touches on both sports betting and the growing appetite for more US states to regulate online casinos, with EveryMatrix ready to pounce on fresh opportunities in the months and years to come. We managed to catch Nyman well ahead of his appearance at the SBC Summit North America next month where he will be part of the "iGaming launch models - follow sports betting or forge own path?" discussion.

Q: EveryMatrix has been building the company’s presence in the North American market for a while now, with a strong focus on the US market. How has this been coming along?

EveryMatrix is a leading global B2B provider of turnkey platform, casino, and sportsbook solutions and services founded 15 years ago this year. We opened our US office in Miami, Florida in August 2020 and not long afterwards became a member of theiDevelopment and Economic Association(iDEA) to strengthen our position there.

Since that period, we’ve built an extensive network across the country; have been awarded licences in Ontario, Canada and four US states that regulate both sports betting and iGaming, including New Jersey, Michigan, West Virginia and most recently Connecticut with the process underway Pennsylvania; gone live with BetMGM’s brands and will soon announce further agreements and integrations with several other major operators across 2023.

Just over a year ago we also launched our in-house studio Armadillo, to capitalise on the thriving US gambling environment by creating titles based on market-specific logic and US player preferences and this approach has paid off in spades in the last 12 months.

In the last 12 months, Armadillo Studios games are live across 250+ brands including with BetMGM, its games are certified in 16 markets (including three US states) with flagship games 15 Armadillos and branded games focused on highly popular UFC fighters and US brand Amanda Nunes, both performing exceptionally well in the US.

As an extension to our existing casino content integrations, we are also establishing ourselves in the US as a platform provider with our proven, unique bonus features and robust and fully modular technology stack. This has been developed in-house and is based on the backbone of our extensive industry experience.

Q: How is your latest entry into Connecticut going to impact your broader strategy for the region and what are the benefits this licence brings?

We’ve deliberately focused on states that have regulated both iGaming and sportsbook as we are the leading supplier in both verticals, and with our recent approval in Connecticut, we are one step closer to securing access to all the significant regulated states. This was another milestone for the business, widening our reach to distribute our world-class content, platform and services to licensed U.S. operators.

Connecticut is dominated by a small number of operators, in which we have established relationships. There will mainly be opportunities on the casino side in the short term, integrating our own content and possibly also sourced through CasinoEngine with features such as free spins, tournaments and our jackpot features.

Q: How far is iGaming going to go in the United States? Do you envision it to be as big a market in terms of geographic footprint as sports betting is now?

iGaming has made steady progress since the repeal of PASPA in 2018. It may not have been as quick as many would like; however, each state is rightly evaluating their approach before deciding. There is huge appetite for iGaming both from consumers and the wider industry, and we’ve seen several well-known brands re-focus from sportsbook to purely iGaming. There are other factors also at play such as widening state deficits and the ongoing need to fund social, economic and charitable causes, as well as the large amount of tax and revenue iGaming states have generated since going live that undecided states will be watching closely and taking into consideration.

We firmly believe more states will choose to regulate. There are more than 30 regulated sports betting states with Kentucky recently approving legislation and casino will inevitably follow. It has always been a question of time, patience, education and proving the model works both financially and from a responsible and compliant point of view.

We are primed for further opportunities as and when they arise and are confident, we can replicate our success across other jurisdictions in the US The landscape will continue to change and evolve. We still have a handful of large operators, which is a sign of a very young market that will see signs of further fragmentation and local brands. We have also seen signs of changes with brands moving away from insourcing to outsourcing technology to suppliers to cut costs and strive for operational effectiveness.

Q: What is unique with EveryMatrix products and value proposition compared to the competition and how is that message coming through?

EveryMatrix B2B solutions help clients unleash bold ideas, deliver outstanding player experiences in regulated markets and generate record revenues. For example, CasinoEngine, our iGaming productivity platform generated €1 billion GGR for our clients in 2022 with a record Q4 of €312m in GGR for casino clients.

This led to EveryMatrix setting a record financial year in 2022 with 149 signed new deals worth more than €25m per year, including 14 turnkey, 18 tier-1, and 7 US contracts.

EveryMatrix offers a full turnkey solution to operators looking for a high-performing, agile platform to launch or grow their brand. Our cross-product platform combines modern front-end technology with sophisticated back-office capabilities, giving operators complete control and an overview of their entire gaming content and player management process.

We deliver a modular and API-driven product suite for Player Account Management (PAM), casino, sports betting, payments, and affiliate and agent management with dedicated support for every product. This means clients have everything at their disposal, from our cutting-edge proprietary products to our renowned experts, to deliver and continually drive performance. Across both casino and sports we have the industry’s most comprehensive and proven bonus program, which has the power to acquire and retain significant player volumes.

Q: Could you offer us one bold prediction about iGaming in the United States in 2023, and EveryMatrix’s place in the market?

We already have a good presence in the US and this will strengthen considerably across 2023 with further integrations with tier-1 brands, while in the years to come we expect our platform products and features to be prominent within those customers’ offerings.

On a wider industry and market level I believe iGaming will gain more momentum as industry stakeholders understand the necessity of the vertical for a successful online gaming operation.

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