Time For A Deal

What is Time For A Deal?

There’s no singular culprit for the Mid-Atlantic’s August casino woes but several likely factors.

The first is the ongoing cannibalization of in-person gaming by online casinos. The Mid-Atlantic is home to four of the country’s eight legal iGaming states: Delaware, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia.

While in-person casino revenue declined in Delaware, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania, iGaming reported GGR growth in each jurisdiction. iGaming revenue in New Jersey was up 4.4%, Pennsylvania’s online casinos saw GGR climb almost 6%, and Delaware iGaming surged 35%.

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The operator declined to comment on losing its spot in the FTSE 100, but recent sentiment from the senior management team has been positive in recent quarters as its turnaround efforts have shown green shoots amid growth returning to its core markets. This is despite various regulatory and tax headwinds across Europe.

In Q1 2025, the group reported double-digit digital growth, thanks to strong UK, Brazil and US online performances. The period marked Stella David’s first quarter in the full-time group CEO role.

David, at the time, said she was “optimistic but prudent” about Entain’s Q1 performance.  

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The transformation has not eliminated all of Cubeia’s concerns. And inevitably some coders are missing their original role.

“We still have people who loved the coding part – solving problems with code and writing beautiful code. They’re struggling with the change. For some people an important part of their work that they genuinely loved is now gone.”

There are also strategic questions around dependence on AI providers.