Aristocrat Technologies built its new North American corporate headquarters in western Las Vegas to accommodate expansion.
For now, however, a move into the growing U.S. sports betting universe isn’t part of that master plan.
Aristocrat Managing Director of the Americas Matt Wilson said last week the company isn’t taking steps to jump into a market where its top rivals – International Game Technology and Scientific Games – have each made large investments.
“At our core this organization is a games company,” Wilson said after he and the company’s top executives from Australia cut the ribbon on a two-building, 180,000-square foot campus which consolidates the company’s operations that were spread throughout multiple buildings in Las Vegas.
“We make great slot games. We make great social games,” Wilson said. “Sports betting is not totally aligned to our core competencies. “But we are a provider to the casinos, so if it’s important to them, then it’s important to us.”
Aristocrat has launched itself into the upper-echelon of the casino equipment sector. According to Eilers & Krejcik Gaming Research, the company led all slot machine manufacturers with roughly 23 percent of games shipped to casinos in the second quarter.
Wilson said Aristocrat is “staying consistent” with its strategic plan in the slot machine segment to gain market share by “competing fiercely (and) just taking a larger piece of the pie.”
The company spent $1.2 billion in 2014 to acquire Video Gaming Technologies, which gave Aristocrat a pathway into the Indian gaming market. During the recent Global Gaming Expo, the company touted the 10-year anniversary of the Buffalo slot machine and its Lightning Link slot machine division.
For now, Aristocrat does not have plans to provide systems to manage sports book operations. But Wilson didn’t completely close the door.
“We have a philosophy that if we enter a category, we want to own it. We want to be No. 1,” he said. “So if we entered sports betting, we would do it in a way that makes sure we have a lead position. We don’t have a dog in that fight at the moment, but we are always actively looking at the potential opportunity.”
Jumping into sports betting, however, won’t come cheap.
Scientific Games spent $631 million to acquire sports wagering provider NYX Gaming Group in 2017. The manufacturer has evolved the system for both online and land-based sports betting. Scientific Games signed a deal this summer with Caesars Entertainment to provide the system to the company’s newly-launched sports books in Atlantic City and Mississippi.
Meanwhile, IGT spent several years developing a sports betting platform and signed deals with MGM Resorts International and William Hill U.S. for casinos in several states and to provide the technology to state lotteries that implement sports betting.
Eight states – including legacy sports book operator Nevada – now offer, legal sports betting. At least a half-dozen other states are potentially looking at legalizing the activity in 2019.
Wilson said if Aristocrat were to enter the sports betting market, it would be through an acquisition.
“If we can provide a service that would make sense to (casinos), then it’s something we would look at,” Wilson said.
The new Aristocrat campus can handle the expansion. Howard Hughes Corp., the land owners, left space for another building if it was needed. The current buildings have room for 1,100 employees and provide numerous amenities, including sit-stand desks, ergonomically designed chairs, a gym, a café, an on-site barista, and other employee comfort benefits.
“We’re growing at such a fast rate, at the moment it’s hard to project what our employee population will be two or three years out.” Wilson said. “We wanted optionality. That was important to us. We outgrew our last facility and that was a big reason for moving.”
Aristocrat did not provide a price for the project, but Howard Hughes valued the complex at $45 million in 2017.
Aristocrat Leisure Ltd. Chairman Ian Blackburne, CEO Trevor Croker, Wilson, and Kevin Orrock, the president of Howard Hughes Corp.’s Summerlin division, participated in the ribbon cutting. Croker dedicated the campus’ 10,000-square-foot outdoor park to Blackburne, who will be retiring from the Aristocrat board, naming it Blackburne Park.
Howard Stutz is the executive editor of CDC Gaming Reports. He can be reached at hstutz@cdcgamingreports.com. Follow @howardstutz on Twitter.
