Gambling Trends in Europe and the US: An Exclusive Interview With Co-Founder of NEXT.io

Pierre, thank you for taking the time to speak with us today!

Thank you Paul, I am excited to speak with you guys and congratulations on all the great work you guys are doing Mr. Gamble!

You started off in a different field before transitioning to iGaming. What drew you to this industry, and how did your prior experiences shape your approach?

Gambling & events is what I’ve done my entire career. As a young 18 year old, I started my career by building what would become one of Scandinavia's largest underground poker clubs.

In those days, everyone played poker, and while it wasn’t legal, my poker club was more of a day care for grown ups, with up to 150 people playing poker a few times a week for reasonable stakes.

So you can say that I was raised amongst gamblers and for me, gambling has always been something that added value to my life. I met so many people, had so many fun nights and experienced so many fun moments because of gambling.

iGaming is a broad and diverse sector. What aspects of it particularly resonated with you, and why?

For me the event part, to meet the players, to meet the operators, to meet anyone related to the industry has always been central, especially because we are a digital industry. It is so important to create bridges and remind ourselves that the industry is not just numbers on a screen, but there are real people behind the industry, whether they are players, or professionals.

I believe it is extremely important to humanise the industry, in order to become more passionate and in touch with what we do.

The US iGaming market has been expanding rapidly. What’s your perspective on the growth and potential of iGaming and gambling in the US?

Despite the regulated markets becoming more dominated by the incumbents, one thing is for sure, never bet against the United States. It is the biggest economy in the world, it is the place where to make it big. Understandably, much of the industry is looking elsewhere at the moment for growth due to risk aversion, but fortune favours the brave.

Despite the regulated markets becoming more dominated by the incumbents, one thing is for sure, never bet against the United States. 

The new wave of market growth comes largely from the social and sweeps segment, with many new operator and supplier entries in recent years. This is an interesting area of growth and speaks to the urge by operators to be able to cater to more players. I have a feeling that this is the right time to be thinking about the US, when many are sleeping on the market.

Many industry leaders say they started their own events after recognizing significant gaps or missed potential. What was the catalyst behind NEXT.io, particularly as it relates to the US market?

The United States is the biggest market in the world. It cannot be understated. For us it was natural to have a presence there, especially with the homebred event sector mostly being focused on land based gaming. Our event in Manhattan, New York also crosses over well to the European audience who are only a flight away from attending. In the last few years we’ve built an incredibly strong network in the market.

With the rapid expansion of iGaming in the US, how does NEXT tailor its content and conferences to address the unique challenges and opportunities in this market?

We stay on top of trends consistently by building and nurturing our network. Whenever something interesting happens, people tend to come to us. Whenever we are interested in a particular trend or rumour, we can access our network to verify.

NEXT has built a reputation for its conferences. Could you shed some light on the various conferences you host, including the upcoming one in New York, and their distinct characteristics?

We have chosen to only host two conferences, Valletta & NYC and make them perfect, rather than trying to do everything at once and make everything just OK. Our NEXT: Valletta flagship summit will host 6000 people in 2024, taking place 7-8th May at the Mediterranean Conference Center in Valletta.

Our NEXT: NYC summit targets top industry leaders and decision makers, investors, operators and suppliers to come together to do serious business. Located just around the corner from the World Trade Center One, NEXT: NYC hosts 1200 delegates including top tier media like CNBC, NYtimes, Business Insider, ESPN, Bloomberg and others.

The US regulatory landscape for online gambling is constantly evolving. How do you see these regulations developing across different states, and what impact will they have on the industry?

Regulation is always a hot topic in the US. While there been headwinds in the form of negative media coverage recently, if operators tighten up their aggressive marketing, and improve their lobbying efforts to create bridges with important stakeholders, I believe that it is just a matter of time before we see a second wave of regulation.

European companies like Mr. Gamble are entering the US market in increasing numbers. What unique benefits do you think they can bring to the US iGaming industry?

Europeans of course have a longer track record and optimised operations to some extent. But it is very important to remember that it’s the Americans that know their own demographic. I believe European companies must bring American expertise to complement each other.

It looks like smooth sailing now, but could you tell us more about the rough waters in the beginning? What were the initial challenges when you were setting up NEXT?

I think we will never leave the rough waters, as we operate in an incredibly dynamic space, as do Mr. Gamble and others too for that matter. Reaching profitability is always the first major step of a business, as you always need to plan for your next fundraise and be mindful of your runway, in order to make sure that your forecasts are accurate so that you don’t risk cash flow.

That is a massive headache for a startup that takes a lot of focus. After becoming profitable, you can then dedicate more resources to growth and new initiatives. I think that a bootstrapped attitude is extremely important to retain as the company grows. It cannot be complacent, or eventually it will die.

Since we’re talking about challenges, a few years ago, during the early stages of the pandemic, you decided to postpone NEXT, despite huge financial risks. Could you walk us through this decision?

Early on during the pandemic we probably took the decision that would lead to our eventual success, although at the time it was the most difficult decision of our life. We decided to postpone all events for the entire year. Almost everyone else chose just to postpone some of their upcoming events a month or two.

We were in close contact with the health ministry and understood quickly that the pandemic would not just “blow over” as summer came. That enabled us to put full focus on our media initiatives and not waste time and resources on upcoming events which would anyway need to be postponed. That is why NEXT, with very little resources, became very prominent during that time, as our competition was still focused on delivering events during the pandemic.

Over the years, you've been at the forefront of many initiatives. How do you typically nurture an idea from its inception to execution?

I can be quite forceful if I like an idea, for better or for worse. I’ve always been vision driven so when I like something I get extremely excited and it’s very hard to get me to change my mind. That works both in my favour and against me. But generally we like to start small, experiment and figure things out along the way. NEXT: Valletta is very different today than what it was in the beginning. For example, it’s an ever-changing organism, as are all our other projects.

This next question is a bit cliche but I’ve got to ask: where do you see NEXT in the next 5 years, especially in the context of the US market?

We generally like to think 2-3 years forward from product level, but the longer 5 year vision would be to become the strongest brand in iGaming. Not the biggest, not the most revenue generating, but the strongest. We should be an authority for industry news, insights and information, we should be the World’s iGaming community, and the industry’s top influencer. 

Thank you, Pierre, for sharing your insights and experiences with us today. We look forward to seeing how NEXT continues to shape the future of the industry, particularly in the US!

Thank you, it is always a pleasure to talk to you guys!