Only four months into 2020 and it is already one for the books being a year to remember. For the iGaming industry, it all started with a bang at ICE London.

Each year ICE gets bigger and better, with booth designs becoming more creative, bolder, impressively inventive, and special guests appearing more accomplished.

Online slot game provider, Ganapati, took home the gold medal when it came to sporting a VIP. They brought the fastest man in the world to the largest iGaming tradeshow, Usain Bolt. Bolt spent the second day of ICE with Ganapati, promoting their partnership which will see the creation of Bolt’s first official slot game, Usain Bolt, due to be released this summer. 

Not only did Usain Bolt show off his DJing skills, but he also spent his time joining Ganapati Group Company CEO, Juliet Adelstein, in interviews and at ICE VOX.

Ganapati approached this year with a brand new attitude; a B2B slot provider with a unique heritage, adopting a B2C marketing mentality. Acknowledging that sports sponsorships in gaming is not uncommon,

Adelstein whose own background is in sports marketing, pointed out that providers need not to rely on the middlemen, the operators. Suppliers themselves can take matters into their own hands.

Ganapati is achieving this by tapping into an outsider perspective offered to them by having a team comprising of non-industry related backgrounds. 

Combining this out-of-the-box view and joining forces with sports stars, the global online gaming provider hopes to tell the casino players themselves a story, allowing them to feel the emotion and passion that is part of sport.

The first steps to achieving direct marketing to the end-user was first taken in 2019 when Ganapati realised they must not let their message become “confused, mixed or diluted.” In doing so, they released the official slot game for 8-time world champion and boxing legend, Manny Pacquiao with Pacquiao One Punch: KO. Adelstein admitted that the game modelled around the achievements of the Phillippeano Senator not only tied in well with Ganapati’s Asian heritage but also put “trust in people.”

The second step taken by Ganapati, which moves them away from their Asian roots and into a brand new global era, is this collaboration with the fastest man in the world, who in his retirement, is no longer running but walking side by side with the iGaming producer to not just market to but also to create a slot game that can be loved by gamers both new and old.

A self-confessed gamer, with a particular love for those centred around sport, Usain Bolt, praised Ganapati as a brand, ensuring he only works in partnerships that complement his long term vision and has the potential to “last a long time – 10 to 12 years – becoming family.” 

One interviewee broached the topic of the athlete aligning himself with gambling to which Bolt replied, “It’s a part of life… Everybody enjoys doing it.”

“Just for the record, I won $100 from my friend the other day from the Super Bowl! I enjoy watching sport and betting with my friends,” he said.

His greatest message of all, “All I can say is just be responsible!”

While the responsibility to enforce standards for safer gambling predominantly lies with the operators – e.g. to take measures to prevent and exclude underage players, or impose functions to enable time-outs or self-exclusion – software providers still have a duty to protect and support the end user’s use of this technology despite having no direct relationship with them.

Celebrity endorsements and partnerships such as that of Usain Bolt and Ganapati could prove to be the key to addressing this duty.

Adelstein added to Bolt’s statement saying the “collaboration with Usain is not only a positive for Ganapati but actually for the whole industry.”

There is a heavy focus on what is happening in the industry at the moment, especially under the current circumstances.

“If we can promote proper gambling [practices] through people like Usain and [show] it is being dealt with properly, it will hopefully help the whole industry grow,” said Adelstein.

With this in mind, it is ultimately the developer’s hope that players view iGaming as the light-hearted form of entertainment it was always intended to be, rather than as any sort of generator of income, whilst recognising that most gambling games involve little to no skill or strategy.

And more often than not, even if you’re not a gamer, you may well be an unwitting gambler – that’s if you have played the lottery, a game of bingo, or even dabbled in certain short-term investments or trading.

Despite not yet being tested on a large scale, possible options that have been raised in the industry to achieve responsible gambling includes rewards encouraging players to review their responsible gambling T&Cs, rewards for setting deposit limits and timers, not earning loyalty points if players gamble beyond their limits, incentives to visit their gambling history, and offering non-gambling incentives to discourage repeat gambling, such as prize draws.

Employees of the wider online gambling space have the opportunity to support the cause by promoting responsible gaming across their own platforms and by participating in healthy discussions with their connections. If word of mouth is still considered to be the most effective marketing tool, what is stopping it from acting as an awareness campaign to protect people’s livelihoods? 

There is a wealth of information available to everybody to remain educated and up to date with new research and measures. This could be through articles, talks at networking events and trade shows, and webinars.

In the current climate, it is more important than ever to recognise the importance of gambling responsibly, as people may find themselves gaming more often than usual.

And in times like this, online gaming should be appreciated for what it is – more often than not a pastime, even an escape for some – rather than something which inevitably becomes problematic for all. 

With this in mind, Ganapati and Usain Bolt continue to share the positivity of their partnership, through articles and social media alike, keeping both operators and players on their toes in anticipation for what may be the greatest game release this summer!