Elevating a firm’s sports betting offering to the next level is no small feat, but according to Joe Asher – IGT’s President of Sports Betting – the provider’s portfolio team of traders and its reputation as a leader in the gaming space will help drive further growth in 2022.

In an interview with SBC Americas, Asher – who will be inducted into the Sports Betting Hall of Fame this week – reflected on the reasons behind his decision to join IGT earlier this year, highlighting the company’s reputation as a contributing factor.

“I got to know Enrico [Drago] during my tenure at William Hill,” he said. “William Hill and IGT partnered in a bid to win the contract to run sports betting through the Rhode Island lottery. And that had been a good relationship.

“So after taking some time off after the Caesars deal closed, when I was thinking about what to do next, I wound up speaking with Enrico. What was interesting was knowing him and the relationship we had, but also the opportunity to be involved in a company that was really starting to get some traction in the B2B space.

“William Hill was both a B2B and B2C company. Going forward, of course, under Caesars’ ownership, the focus is really on B2C. Everybody knows IGT and the legacy of the company. But the company really made some strides in the sports betting space so to be able to join the company and try to take it up to the next level was something which was really interesting to me.”

As it stands, IGT services a very diverse set of clients across the betting and gaming industry, boasting names such as FanDuel and Boyd Gaming as well as regional casinos, a lottery, and racetracks.

But when it comes to meeting a wide range of client needs, how does IGT manage? For Asher, the company’s industry expertise and a stand-out trading service is the answer.

He added: “Fundamentally, they need a sports betting platform. And of course, that’s what IGT has. A number of these partners are utilising our trading services, which comprises a team of traders or bookmakers in historical vernacular that are based in Las Vegas, continue to expand that team and provide a solution – so the hardware, software, training on how to use it all as well as the risk management services that our team continues to build.”