Public Gaming International Gaming July/August 2021

24 PUBLIC GAMING INTERNATIONAL • JULY/AUGUST 2021 PGRI INTERVIEWS Paul Jason: Let’s start with a basic question. Why are U.S. states rushing to regulate sports betting more than they have ever done for iLottery? Does sports betting generate more financial benefit for society (funding for “good causes” or in the form of tax receipts) than iLottery? Moti Malul: Sport Betting is definitely the hottest topic in gaming regulation across the US, and the simple evidence of that is the fact that within less than 3 years since PASPA was repealed, more than 30 states have authorized sport betting in various shapes and forms. It is interesting, and in some ways unfortunate, that it has over- shadowed the efforts of allowing lotteries to go live with iLottery programs. I believe the power of voice created by the sport gaming giants and the excitement that people in the US have for finally being able to bet on sports, which has been common around the world for many years, provides for that slightly imbalanced prioritization and attention. This imbalanced view is even more glaring when you consider the significant difference in contribution to state good causes and budgets by the verticals. Let’s take for example a simple case and compare $100m in GGR (Wagers minus Wins) in Sport Betting vs the same in iLottery. On average, according to most tax structures in states that have regulated sport betting, at best the state will receive 10-15% of that, and this is even before adding to the The U.S. games-of-chance market is undergoing a seismic shift from fragmented sets of product “verticals” that vary from state-to-state to an omni-gaming model in which more and more game categories are available across more and more channels of distribution. Legislators are recognizing that prohibition does not prevent people from playing, that it instead just drives the activity under-ground so that players are forced to resort to illegal, unregulated criminal operations that do not pay taxes. The antidote to this is to regulate the games-of-chance industry. Enlightened lawmakers everywhere are implementing regulatory frameworks to protect players and channel economic benefit back to society. 2021 is becoming the year in which iLottery programs are more widely brought into the world of legally regulated forms of gaming. Neogames is applying its fifteen years of global iLottery experience to its mission to serve clients with the omni-channel platform, innovative interactive games, and full suite of business and technology services to generate outperforming growth. Riding on the waves of a successful NASDAQ IPO, Neogames CEO Moti Malul enjoins his colleagues all around the world to work together to make the coming few years represent the iLottery era of Digital Transformation. MAKING THE CASE FOR ILOTTERY n Significantly higher financial return to the state and to good causes than sports betting n More benign form of “gambling” than sports betting – less problem gambling, lower social costs n Operates well right along-side all other forms of gaming including sports betting, iGaming and traditional lottery-at-retail n Provides the platform necessary for the Interactive relationship with the players that is key to a sustainable future for lotteries n Drives high synergies with digitization of lotteries at retail through omni strategies EMBRACING THE NEW WORLD OF OMNI-GAMING SPORTS-BETTING, TRADITIONAL LOTTERY AT RETAIL, ONLINE GAMING, AND ILOTTERY ALL GROWING TOGETHER Moti Malul, Chief Executive Officer, Neogames