Caesars Digital CEO lauds new icasino and sportsbook app impact amid product push

Caesars Digital CEO Eric Hession has welcomed the impact of the new Caesars Palace online casino app and its sportsbook app on the firm’s operations, helping Caesars to deliver a “very solid quarter” for the business.

Hession spoke as part of Caesars Q3 2023 financial results call, in which the operator revealed a positive $2m adjusted EBITDA in Q3, up from a negative $38m a year prior.

Digital divisional net revenue grew 1.4% year over year (YOY) in Q3 to $215m, with net losses falling sharply by 54% YOY to a negative figure of $29m from a negative $63m in Q3 2022.

Caesars has been on a program of app updates across its igaming and sports betting portfolio during Q3, with the firm launching its new Caesars Palace Casino app in August across four US states, following this up by transitioning its heritage William Hill Nevada sportsbook onto the Liberty tech stack.

Addressing the igaming roadmap, Hession highlighted potential impacts on the bottom line going into Q4 and into 2024, and through opportunities relating to product development.

“We feel that there’s a lot of opportunity to improve the integration of the various game vendors that will give us more insight into the actual workings of the game and see what customers are playing and where the spins are,” Hession explained.

“We also have an opportunity to improve our CRM. As we mentioned during prior calls up to about a couple of months ago, we weren’t able to do segmented marketing. And so now, with our new app and with some of the new technology, we feel like that’s going to really benefit us heading into next year.”

He continued: “We are exploring the possibilities of adding another skin to the portfolio, as there are several states where we have additional licenses that we’ve reserved and plan to potentially roll that out later in 2024.

“All of those things are contributing to the overall improvement, but what I would say is that the thesis of the new icasino app is following the script exactly.

“We’re seeing a much higher percentage of slot players, which if you recall on our prior app, it was heavily table focused, and then as a result, we’re seeing improved hold in that particular app, which we think over time will ultimately create a whole lot more value for us,” the Caesars Digital CEO added.

Pivoting to discussing the group’s sportsbook journey, which began in August 2021 with the launch of the revamped Liberty-powered sportsbook app, Hession suggested the firm had made progress but still had work to do to make up ground on FanDuel, DraftKings, and BetMGM.

“From our perspective, I think we’ve made a lot of steps in the last two years, and I feel like our product is comparable to the top products that are out there, but not quite to the level,” Hession said.

“There are still some pieces of functionality that we just haven’t developed yet or focused on.

“But having the same-game parlays for the NCAA, having live same-game parlays, having alternative line SGPs out there were big steps, rolling those out for the NBA coming up and then getting that same action into hockey and so forth are some of the things that we still need to close the gap on.”

However, the digital CEO remained upbeat, adding: “Broadly speaking, I feel like if a customer came to our app, the benefits that we have with Caesars Rewards and with a lot of the other things that we can offer are unique and something that our competitors cannot offer.

“The app is going to allow them to stay with us and become a loyal customer. Whereas I think if you were to say that same thing about a year or 18 months ago, that may not have been the case,” Hession concluded.