It’s a time for change in the gambling industry. That’s obviously the case worldwide as the sector continues to adapt to Covid-19, but specially so in the U.S., as changing regulations open up new opportunities. To discuss the change that’s happening now, Stephen Crystal, Founder of SCCG Management and Head of Betfred Sports USA Development, joined our Becky Liggero Fontana to discuss how the industry can push forward on this week’s episode of The Long Con.

Crystal didn’t seem particularly worried that Las Vegas would suffer from the pandemic in the long run. “What Vegas does is they innovate,” he said. “They find different ways to deal with that situation, they find an opportunity to make use of their space in a different way, to do entertainment in a different way, to use technology. So even in the interim, we’ll find a way to maximize it, and when the world returns to the new normal, we’ll be there to capitalize.”

Due to his role, Crystal is focused specifically on how to win over the sports betting market in the U.S., and 2020 has been a year to focus on esports. He believes he’s found the way to advertise to the core audience of that vertical. “Five hours a day is the average time that a consumer who engages with the Twitch platform, which is their version of streaming content around competitive gaming, five hours a day is what they spend on that content,” he said. “So that type of engagement is something we’ve never seen, we don’t even understand it. And so if we can take that energy and find how to converge that with both brick and mortar casino and online gaming and sports betting, then I think we have the beginnings of something that that can look at a transition to the future.”

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q6hIWiS7fr4]