Analysis: William Hill mobile gaming
Single sign-on is coming and mobile gaming remains a key area of focus for William Hill in 2014
William Hill has rolled out its first single sign-on products with customers of its html5 mobile sportsbook able to move seamlessly between sportsbook and roulette and blackjack.
Earlier this week it added Cash In My Bet to its mobile products this week as it continues to try and build on its early lead in mobile sportsbook, but gaming progress appears more slow. And with online gaming revenues growing by a modest 2% in Q4 there is an increasing need for mobile to start picking up the pace.
Mobile is already “north of 40%” of sportsbook revenues, and Hill’s CEO Ralph Topping has set a target of 40% of gaming revenue coming through mobile by mid-2015. Hills are certainly investing in mobile gaming. It launched a major UK advertising push for its Vegas app in the late half of the year, claiming 31,000 downloads in the first month of its £1 million giveaway.
The app predominately features mobile slots from Playtech-owned Ash Gaming and is a much more stripped down version of the more weighty Casino app. It forms a key part of Hills mobile strategy including the long-awaited integration of single sign-on.
“Mobile gaming is improving as we said it would,” Topping said in the analyst call. “The technology upgrades went in as planned and the products are live,” he said. He also appeared to add single sign-on was live on sports, vegas, live casino and bingo although that doesn’t appear to be the case just yet.
A William Hill spokesman told eGR Mobile Intelligence single sign-on was implemented in cross-selling roulette and IGT’s blackjack through its html5 sportsbook web app at the current time with other platforms to be “added soon”. The two lead off products are said to be a “key cross [selling] journey”, but a more expanded single sign-on offering will be a priority for the Gibraltar-based team.
“We’ve got plenty of new content and thereâs more in the pipeline,” Topping told analysts. “And itâs showing in the numbers. Mobile gaming net revenue tripled in Q4. Itâs gone from 14% of gaming revenues in H1 to 18% in Q3 to 23% in Q4. Thereâs more to come but weâre on track to hit our target of 40% by mid-2015. I want to see that target exceeded.”