In mid-August, Fanatics Holding’s online and retail sports betting division, Fanatics Betting and Gaming, successfully ended a six-month beta-testing phase for the Fanatics Sportsbook app with the official launch in Tennessee on March 2. Soon followed Ohio, Massachusetts, and Maryland.
During the same month, the sports merchandise company announced it would give its sports wagering loyalty platform a big boost by getting ready to launch collectibles and trading cards as part of the rewards program.
Now, according to Fanatics Betting & Gaming’s chief business officer, Ari Borod, the launch of an iCasino is in the books. While Fanatics will continue to be strongly focused on sports, online casino gaming is now also an integral part of their “long-term strategy.”
Giving Customers What They Want
Considering iCasino to be “a very good business” in the long run, Borod believes Fanatics should start catering to the needs of bettors who are also interested in playing online blackjack on their phones – while preventing them from giving their business to competitors.
Accordingly, the operator will need to “give the customer what they want,” which translates to the company’s current plans to launch an online casino in those US states where casino gambling is not frowned upon by legislators.
Rushing the product to the day of its market release is not, however, an option for Fanatics. Since it is “too late for Fanatics to be the first,” their main goal will be to become the best in the industry. Based on the lack of sufficient innovation in the online casino world, Borod believes that, through hard work, their new strategy should pay off.
The Big iCasino Launch Might Take Place By the End of the Year
None of the four states that have already been introduced to the company’s sportsbook app offer legal casino gambling. This means there is no immediate need to launch an iCasino there.
Nonetheless, the virtual gambling venue now represents a priority for the operator whose aim is to see it launch in states like Michigan, West Virginia, and Pennsylvania where online casinos are now legal and live. The big launch would take place either by the end of the current year or at the head of the next year, “if we don’t feel it’s perfect yet,” as commented by Borod during a Gamble On podcast episode.
The chief business officer further explained that the operator would be showing the same type of commitment to improving both the casino and the sports products in parallel.
It is safe to assume that the operator will first put the iCasino products through the same type of lengthy and comprehensive beta testing as it did with its mobile sportsbook app prior to giving it the green light for launch.
Earlier in the month, Fanatics hired ex-Opendoor executive Andrew Low Ah Kee to run its $5 billion sports merchandise business as chief executive officer.