[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kJcxae30TU4?feature=oembed]

Keith McDonnell has spent a lot of time in Asia, and that’s given him a perspective on the local iGaming industry that few expats can match. That’s coming in handy now as the global pandemic has reset the board, and loads of new considerations need to be made. Our Stephanie Tower joined him during the SiGMA ICE Asia digital event to catch up on how the industry is adapting to the new normal, and what opportunities will come from it.

The panel McDonnell attended during the conference was all about the Philippines, and the huge role it plays in the Asian region. “The Philippines, and Manila in particular, has been the center of the Asian iGaming hub for as long as I’ve been active in Asia, which is since 2008,” he told Tower. “And you know, it’s had its challenges over the years, many of them legal, many of them regulatory, but it still retains that position, and part of the reason for that is it’s still the only jurisdiction in the whole of Asia that issues iGaming licenses to operators who want to set up in Manila, and offer them protection around that. Emanating from that has been an explosion of talent, so within Manila and you know, the wider Philippines, there’s a lot of people who just understand iGaming now, and you know that’s not common in other parts of Asia.”

One of the fears the industry has had is the way this pandemic will affect its regulatory futures. McDonnell is optimistic. “My view and this is quite it’s quite strong, and it’s consistent with what I think is going to happen here in the U.S., in terms of how sports betting is going to open up faster on a state by state basis in the U.S.,” he said. “I think what’s happened is with the pandemic, those casinos who are restricted only to bricks and mortar will have had zero business over this pandemic. Sports betting of course, and particularly with Asia, with football and basketball which is the lion’s share of revenue being eliminated, that’s hurt too. But you know there have been other sports that have been in existence, and I think what we’re going to find is around the world, not unique to Asia but including Asia, regulatory opposition perhaps to legal sports betting and iGaming may be diluted, just because revenue deficits are going to need to be made up, so they’re going to want to issue more licenses, tax operators and also find ways to plug these gaps when land based bricks and mortar casinos are just not able to operate.”