Ben Keith, Jessica Norell and Nick Rust answer the key questions

Give your perception of what makes ICE relevant to the industry

Ben Clissitt, Racing Post group sports director Everyone who matters is in the same place. It gives us the chance to meet clients from around the world and prospective customers. Plus we can see the latest in technology and understand what everyone is thinking.

Ben Keith, owner of Star Sports Thank goodness for the safe haven of the Racing Post Cafe away from all the general noise and machines! ICE can be alien in many ways, but the roots of the old Betting Show remain and it’s always a good time to meet up and reflect on where we are and where our business is going.

Jessica Norell, Paddy Power director of retail ICE is a great exhibition for anyone in the industry and, while most of the focus is on gaming, there is also plenty of interesting future sportsbook solutions being presented every year. It’s a great opportunity to network with existing and potential partners and suppliers as well as explore future products.

Nick Rust, BHA chief executive ICE manages to gather most of the major suppliers and operators from the main sectors of betting and gaming into one exhibition. It shows all the latest technology and thinking, so is invaluable for many leaders and executives in the industry. It’s great for networking and packing in a number of meetings efficiently too.

Joe Saumarez Smith, Bede Gaming chair It’s by far my busiest week of the year and I can do roughly 70 meetings over five days, which would normally involve a huge amount of travelling and organising. Pretty much everyone who is a decision-maker in the industry will be there. It’s mayhem but very productive.

What technical innovation holds the greatest potential for you?

Ben Clissitt In terms of content I think there is huge potential around marrying data and predictive models to create better and more relevant content over multiple platforms. I think voice technologies will also become more important in the industry as will increased personalisation.

Ben Keith On course must find a quick and workable solution to take contact and card machine bets. I’m worried that many technical innovations from the industry aren’t actually in the spirit of what we do offer and what the game is all about.

Jessica Norell Our priority is ensuring our customers can bet in a safe and responsible way, so the most exciting opportunities are in that area; whether that’s developments in AI to detect at-risk customer behaviour (similar to our CAAP model – which uses machine learning to identify potentially harmful behaviour) or advances in facial recognition to enhance our self-exclusion processes.

Nick Rust Although ‘old’ technology now, self-service betting terminals are important for British racing, and I’m looking forward to seeing how they are progressing and how we can help provide better and more accessible betting on British racing. I’m also keen to see where responsible gambling management technology has got to in the online world.

Joe Saumarez Smith If only I knew! In play and cash out were basically technical innovations that could only happen when the algorithms were sophisticated enough to price accurately in real time. I’m quite interested in micro stakes, micro markets (events that play out in under 30 seconds) but I haven’t see anyone deliver a compelling product yet.

Is over the counter back in the game?

Ben Clissitt Physical betting will always have a big place in the industry. The change in FOBTs has meant a real change in the number of betting shops, but there will also be an alteration in their nature. Stakes have gone up over the counter but the big change will be the uptick in revenue through SSBTs.

Ben Keith It has to be. Any shop that has survived is now at least there on its own merits, not just those of their FOBT machines.

Jessica Norell I wouldn’t say that it has been out of the game. We at Paddy Power have always had a strong sports-led proposition including over the counter. As a result, we were well positioned following the recent regulatory changes on FOBTs when we continued to have a high-performing retail estate, despite the implementation of a £2 staking limit.

Nick Rust It seems to have had a mini revival with double-digit turnover growth being reported in 2019. It was inevitable there would be some improvement following B2/B3 gaming machine stake restrictions, but it was better than expected. I remain more optimistic for the future of retail betting than most.

Joe Saumarez Smith In the UK, I suspect not. Fundamentally society is moving away from cash and visiting shops. The most interesting developments are in markets like Romania where firms like Superbet still have plenty of cash punters and the age demographic skews much younger and many more women go to shops.

What might we do or use better in terms of consumer protection?

Ben Clissitt Responsible gambling will continue to grow as an area of focus and the external pressures on the industry will increase. Big strides are being taken, but ensuring we use available intelligence and technologies to protect consumers will be critical in staying ahead of the curve and discharging the industry’s social responsibilities.

Ben Keith Punters should be able to self-exclude from the casino only, if they choose. This seems to be the problem area.

Jessica Norell Acting responsibly needs to be at the heart of all operators and the industry must ensure that all customers are betting in a safe environment. The formation of the Betting and Gaming Council and its independently monitored pledges are positive steps. It is important to promote collaboration and develop strategies to ensure customers are fully protected.

Nick Rust There is simply no room for complacency here, and frankly each customer will need to be considered individually on a risk-assessed basis. Technology will continue to help deliver more accurate assessment of customers and help operators to minimise risk with appropriate controls and interventions.

Joe Saumarez Smith Regulators are going to expect operators to be able to track customers properly, across all channels. Using things like beacon technology and facial recognition will become the norm and that will lead to better consumer protection. The trend is only going one way and the protections offered online will need to move to retail fairly rapidly.

Football betting has soared – where do you see similar growth potential?

Ben Clissitt Globally, it feels like there is still a very long way to go for the big US sports, particularly basketball and American Football.

Ben Keith Speciality/novelty betting, such as politics and reality TV etc. I see that only going one way.

Jessica Norell Football remains an incredibly popular sport to bet on and we expect this growth to continue. Our retail offering remains sports-led, and we continue to see customers taking an interest in horseracing. The rise of fantasy sports has been an interesting development in recent years and the industry has been keeping a close eye on its progression.

Nick Rust I’d love to say betting on British racing, but it’s a fairly mature market. We need to innovate and make betting on racing more appealing and accessible to the younger generations to maintain its recent growth. However, I imagine betting will grow on eSports and other skill-based, broadcast events in future years.

Joe Saumarez Smith I don’t think anything has the potential that football has had. I think eSports has potential but it is a long way off catching something like tennis. I suspect there is probably more easy growth in development of new formats of casino games, especially slots with the same mechanics as social platforms.

Imagine a decade on. What could the key issues for ICE 2030 be?

Ben Clissitt Doping in eSports; decline in consumption of live traditional sports coverage; proscription and restriction of gambling in some territories; carbon consumption; and the rise of virtual conferencing.

Ben Keith Firms who are chasing foreign gold may get to the end of the rainbow where they have been several times before such as Australia and realise that the grass wasn’t quite as green as they had hoped. It was more expensive and had many more costs and taxes than they had hoped. And they may wish to return to the UK . . . and it may be too late.

Jessica Norell It’s very hard to call given the significant change across the industry in recent times. How the industry adapts to technological change and consumer behaviours will be the biggest challenge for operators. From developments in AI, to more efficiently identifying problem gambling, to innovative new product offerings – technology will play a crucial part.

Nick Rust I suspect still many of the major challenges the industry faces now, particularly the threat of government and societal action if responsible gambling performance is not acceptable. Even if it is, societal attitudes which are driving increasing regulation and jurisdictional control may well mean that achieving any real growth globally may be challenging for the industry.

Joe Saumarez Smith The majority of worldwide markets will have regulated gambling by 2030. So regulatory scope and controls will (still) be a key issue in 2030. I’d think the industry will have matured considerably with fewer smaller players and some huge global companies that are hard to compete with. Perhaps Amazon, Google, TenCent and Rakuten will be the dominant players by then.

If you are interested in this, you should read:

Taking you to the heart of the world's largest betting and gaming show

‘No other show can offer such a degree of choice and insight’

Racing Post taking advantage of growing market in the US

Increased focus on consumer protection at this year's show

SG Gaming boss Phil Horne looking to a bright future

'It’s never been more important to produce world-class content'

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