Through the first nine months of the calendar year, September is the biggest for operators. With football returning to the mix, it not only helps sportsbooks, but West Virginia online casinos also see an uptick in play.
August is a key month for operators to gear up for the busy season of the fourth quarter. For Caesars Palace Casino, it was an especially busy month, as the operator’s new standalone platform displayed impressive download share.
How did it fare compared to market leaders such as FanDuel, DraftKings and BetMGM?
Caesars Palace online casino generates strong August downloads
Eilers & Krejcik Gaming, authors of the The EKG Line newsletter, tracked the amount of online casino downloads during the month of August. Caesars announced the launch of its standalone platform earlier in 2023, which makes this time of year even more crucial for the operator.
The clear market leaders in the online casino and sports betting space are FanDuel, DraftKings and BetMGM. FanDuel’s online casino gross gaming revenue (GGR) is slightly behind the others, however, it is starting to gain momentum.
FanDuel recorded the most downloads in August. Though Caesars finished fourth, it’s right on the heels of DraftKings and BetMGM, respectively. Eilers & Krejcik Gaming wrote:
“Caesars Palace captured an impressive 9% download share among this group, per Sensor Tower—well above the 2% share Caesars’ Harrah’s NJ app captured during the same period. Our initial interaction with the Caesars Palace app in early August was challenging, but some big issues we ID’d (e.g., slow loading times) have improved or been remedied completely.”
FanDuel and DraftKings are the obvious top operators in both categories. However, Eilers & Krejcik Gaming thinks BetMGM is still in a good position, but still has to worry about Caesars.
“BetMGM will be under pressure from Caesars, but we regard the quality of the BetMGM app as a good hedge against major GGR share loss.”
September looms as pivotal month for Caesars Palace WV casino
Over the last two years, West Virginia online casinos have recorded the largest revenue totals in September, through the first nine months of the calendar. The Mountain State posted $5.2 million in Septemeber 2021 and in 2022, generated $10.7 million in revenue.
As July 2023 saw $14.4 million in revenue, September is expected to turn out with an even larger figure.
Caesars’ new platform has capabilities it didn’t previously have, when the online casino was only accessible through the sportsbook. Particularly, Caesars is now able to conduct segmented marketing with customers.
During the Q2 2023 earnings call, Caesars CEO, Tom Reeg, said:
“We are fully aware that we have seen significant competition in the iCasino space. We don’t expect that we’re just going to come in and run everybody over. But we feel like we’ve got the product to start to build market share, and wrapping that into Caesars rewards has been and will continue to be powerful for that business.”
Caesars is going after slot players with the launch of the new app. It also partnered with Evolution Gaming to provide live dealer games for players.
September is going to be a key month for Caesars. It’ll show where it really stands among the market leaders. Reeg is confident in his product.
“It’s a casino-first entry into our digital business,” Reeg said last month. “And in terms of capabilities, bonusing, segmentation, proprietary games and live dealer, it is lightyears beyond what we’ve been operating under.”
