
Anaxi CEO Mitchell Bowen admits he is surprised by how few US states have legalized online casino to date – but remains 'very bullish' on the vertical's long-run potential for prosperity in North America.
At G2E, Gaming America asked Bowen the "million-dollar question" of whether one or two key states legalizing iGaming could cause a ripple effect and see multiple jurisdictions follow suit.
And the executive, also Chief Transformation Officer at Aristocrat Technologies, is certainly keeping optimistic, even if he and the wider Aristocrat team may have expected more progress by now.
Responding to Gaming America, he said, "There are a number of states that have shown promising conversations but have never quite got there. So, unfortunately, it's not one size fits all; it's not the United States, every state is individual.
"What I would say, though, is each state is learning from every other state that's starting to open up.
"One of the big things is it's not a single prize; we have to spread multiple bets over here.
"So, yes, we're a bit surprised, but we remain very bullish on the overall appetite of North America for iGaming. It's just going to take longer than everyone originally anticipated."
Bowen was speaking at G2E a day after the 10th Global Gaming Awards Las Vegas took place, where Aristocrat won three Awards: Land-Based Product of the Year, Land-Based Industry Supplier of the Year and Slot of the Year.
Anaxi is Aristocrat's online division, which rebranded to Anaxi in October 2022 and has since gone on to sign prominent deals with the likes of BetMGM.