Exclusive Jonathan Chilton interview: Heading North

What has been your role in helping develop Aristocrat’s iGaming white-label and when did the company first see an opportunity to utilize it?

Aristocrat’s iGaming white-label is one of the five go-to markets we have as a representative business unit. It’s a legacy of a previous acquisition that was made by the Aristocrat Group back in April 2024 of NeoGames.

NeoGames had a history of white-label and BDC operations. They divested the BDC operations in 2021 to focus the white-label in regulated markets and, through that acquisition, Aristocrat inherited the white-label operation.

The benefit of having a white-label operation is that we offer turnkey solutions from an end-to-end perspective for partners based on our gaming licenses that we have in regulated jurisdictions. It enables our partners to enter the regulated market at a low price point and effectively outsource all of their operational managed services capabilities to us, to do on their behalf until they reach a potential level of maturity where they can do it themselves. So we’ve divested ourselves from BDC directly, but we manage BDCs on behalf of partners on a white-label basis.

How is the white-label assisting operators such as Betiton in Ontario and how did Aristocrat’s partnership with that brand first come about?

Betiton became a partner of Aristocrat Interactive through a previous acquisition, but, in terms of the group we work with, about eight years. There’s a long and rich history behind this partnership. We operate with them in four different regulated markets and Ontario is the latest.

From a white-label perspective, the partner builds a brand, builds brand integrity and does the acquisition portion of the relationship. We do all the managed services from the point of registration through to the life cycle.

Essentially, it means they can focus their attention on brand building, brand equity and acquisition to create a value proposition for themselves. We do the rest to support that effort.

Does the prior relationship with Betiton help to ease the process of entering the Ontario iGaming market?

Yes, Betiton, in terms of the group we work with, have a number of brands with us and recently launched new brands with us too. They launched in the UK with us during January 2024 but, specifically around Canada, they’ve wanted to launch the preeminent Betiton brand in Ontario.

They take Betiton into all the regulated markets where we operate or offer services and Ontario was the next frontier of breaking into North America for them.

We started off with a casino offering, Roxor and Wizard Games, which is quite a differentiator in the market, and we’ll be adding sports to the platform for a broad-based offering in Ontario later in 2025.

Absolutely, and the content from Roxor and Wizard Games, did that originate from the acquisition of NeoGames or did that follow once Aristocrat took over?

It came afterwards. It’s part of the group strategy to digitize what is very successful and longstanding content in a retail and land-based environment and take it online. It’s an amazing value proposition for some of our existing partners in different verticals.

In Canada, specifically, they carry Aristocrat and Roxor content, which does particularly well because it resonates with players online from a land-based perspective. We are carrying that forward with the best practice and value proposition of what it means as a differentiator in a competitive environment.

Does the use of the iGaming white-label vary from operator to operator? Or perhaps based on the regulation of the market the operator is entering?

Each of the different regulations from a jurisdictional perspective have different requirements. There are limitations to what you can do on the frontend and then in terms of responsible gaming and anti-money laundering, which is defined by the actual jurisdictional regulations. From a white-label perspective, we’ve got two different models.

We’ve got a template model where a partner can come in and take a frontend we have built that has minimal ability for changes, or they can take an API where they build the frontend themselves. They are then able to use our microservices and widgets to differentiate their frontend and look unique in the market, helping to create a value proposition that’s uniquely theirs; following the brand equity they may have created in other markets, or they have existing from a brand perspective.

Does Aristocrat foresee the iGaming market in Ontario developing further?

Ontario is a leader in Canada; they were one of the first to legislate and open up the market from a competitive standpoint. So, moving away from monopoly, I’m sure we’ll see some of the other states follow as we go along, but Ontario specifically has been a very successful market for a number of operators. If you look at the stats, there are over 1.6 million active customers in Ontario since its launch in 2022 and a 72% revenue increase in the past year alone among the 46 licensed operators.

We anticipate they’ll continue to grow for a period of time and that’s why we see a value proposition where the player value is also good. We’re confident the content we have to offer resonates with players in Ontario and Canada as a whole.

What are the specific features of Aristocrat’s iGaming white-label that help operators enter markets such as Ontario, and what are the company’s future plans for the province?

The big value proposition of a white-label offering is a lower price point in terms of margin from a licensing perspective.Ontario specifically has the option to have four sub-brand licenses that you can attribute to single brands; so on our primary license, we can have up to four brands within the market. Betiton is the second brand we’ve launched and, during the course of 2025, we plan to have four brands live in Ontario. It’s certainly something that’s in our strategy to build, grow and diversify that market.

Is there a role the white-label can play to help bring sports betting into Ontario also?

I think localization is key. If you look at places like Alberta, they focus on hockey and some of the North American sports that resonate more. Through our history with the white-label, Ontario is the first North American-regulated market we’ve entered in terms of licensing. We come from a European-esque background, so we’ve needed to adapt our sports offering to resonate with North American players and Ontario specifically.

We understand that hockey and basketball play a much bigger role here than they do in Europe, which is predominantly driven by football. It’s definitely about localization and making sure we have compelling and competitive offers from a CRM perspective.

Is there a filtering process of sorts done by Aristocrat before partnering with operators to offer the iGaming white-label? Or would an operator approach you and show interest in collaborating first?

In the past, there might have been a broader appetite. But we specifically focus on regulated markets and, because the licenses are our own licenses, we carry the liability and responsibility for managing those licenses in accordance with the regulations. We pride ourselves on offering safe gaming and adherence to really strong principles around safer gaming.

We apply a fair level of due diligence to potential partners, both in terms of their reputation and understanding theirambitions. It’s really something we do on a case-by-case basis and it’s certainly not a free for all because we’re equally liable or more. We also choose to go into business with people that have a like-minded ambition for what they want to do from a brand perspective; and also how they manage themselves within the market in terms of regulation and integrity.

Kirk Geller

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