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January/February 2016 // PUBLIC GAMING INTERNATIONAL //
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Paul Jason, PGRI:
What do you see as
the most important initiatives for SELAE to
undertake in 2016?
Inmaculada García Martínez:
First
of all, I would like to highlight that 2015
has been a very successful year. Many
achievements have culminated in our
worldwide-known Christmas Draw held
on the 22nd of December where we have
had a significant increase in revenue.
Looking ahead to 2016, SELAE’s main
challenge is to continue the path of grow-
ing its lottery business, raising funds for
the national budget and for supporting
sports, culture and other social causes, to
which SELAE dedicates 2% of its prof-
its. This is not an easy task in the Span-
ish gaming industry, where SELAE faces
a growing competition from for-profit
private gambling operators.
SELAE’s games are very well known to
the public, but rely heavily on the draw-
based games. So SELAE is continuously
trying to match its new developments
with the general request from its stake-
holders to create new games and busi-
ness opportunities to meet the current
needs of the market-place. In line with
this policy, we have planned, along with
our partners in the Euromillions com-
munity, to launch an exciting modifica-
tion of this game. The details will be an-
nounced in the near future.
Next year we are going to introduce
our new SAGA digital platform, that
will replace our current internet solu-
tion. SAGA is the culmination of a great
deal of effort made by SELAE in the last
three years. This new high performance
digital platform has been designed to
address the requirements of our players
in terms of betting experience, content
management, multi- device use, and will
be the foundation to build an omni-
channel solution to digitalize our point
of sales. We have high hopes for this new
platform as we are growing at 15% an-
nually on the internet.
In terms of our retail network, during
2015 we have successfully opened more
than 600 new retailers in areas of Spain
with low population. In 2016 we will
continue our plans to increase the num-
ber of retailers to bring our games closer
to our players.
Another exciting 2016 project is to re-
vamp our brand identity, including our
portfolio of games. Although our current
emblem is well recognized throughout
the country by a great majority of Span-
iards, we need to evolve and innovate to
ensure we stay relevant and engaging in
this ever-changing competitive market.
What game categories represent the best op-
portunity for growth for SELAE?
I. García Martínez:
SELAE is work-
ing to adapt its portfolio to the consum-
ers’ general demand. Along this line of
commercial policy, SELAE has modern-
ized our football pool game “La Quin-
iela;” we have increased the number of
draws of our LOTO now which is daily;
we have also created new special Lottery
Draws; and finally we have implemented
the new change in EUROMILLIONS
mentioned before.
Is SELAE licensed to offer online casino-style
gambling?
I. García Martínez:
No, SELAE is not
licensed to offer online casino-style gam-
bling and we do not have plans to enter
this segment of the gambling market.
What percentage of SELAE revenue comes
from online sales? How much do you expect
that percentage to be in 2016 or 2017?
I. García Martínez:
SELAE depends
on the retailer network to sell our prod-
ucts. Nevertheless, we realize that we are
in the 21st Century and appreciate the
important role that new technologies
have for the modern consumer. So, in
order to support our retailers and help
them to increase their sales, we provide
them with the opportunity to sell our
products over the internet and through
mobile apps. In this way, the online
channels have enabled our retailers to
extend their selling time to 24/7. This
is important to them and it is important
for the players to have this improved ac-
cess to play the lottery. Online sales still
represent a modest 1.4% of our total
sales, but the pace of growth is high and
we expect to reach a 2% in 2017. Most
important is that SELAE products be
made available through multiple chan-
nels so that the consumer can buy them
online and on their Mobile. And SE-
LAE’s positive relationship with our re-
tailers is stronger than ever because they
benefit directly from this online sales
model. The retailers remain the true sell-
ers of SELAE lottery products.
Spain’s online gambling market is opening
up to multiple commercially licensed opera-
tors to offer all varieties of online gambling.
Does online gambling represent a competitive
threat to Lottery, to SELAE?
I. García Martínez:
The Spanish gov-
ernment passed a law in May 2011that
regulates online gambling. Since then,
the number of new online operators
have increased dramatically, offering all
varieties of online gambling, including
fixed-odd sport betting, poker, and most
other successful casino-style games. Of
course, this new offering has impacted
SELAE’s sales negatively, as it has di-
verted some of the lottery players’ spend
over to online betting. However, what
really concerns us is that it has cut fur-
ther into the number of young adults
who play the lottery. Additional gaming
options in general, and online betting in
particular, definitively represents a com-
petitive threat to SELAE. It is a chal-
lenge for us. But it also is the inspiration
for us to be more innovative and creative
in providing attractive and entertain-
ing products to our players while always
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