Philippine Inland Gaming Operators (PIGOs) are struggling to match up their land-based and online personas, sometimes forgetting to leverage the years-long process of brand recognition as they forge into the new space.
Speaking to AGB, PIGO operator Joe Pisano, CEO of Jade Entertainment and Gaming, notes that “they need to look at bridging their land-based to their online to leverage their online as a marketing tool”.
Pisano points out how the expansion into online allows for PIGO operators to now have a product which is no longer defined by regional boundaries.
“Their brand is now national,” highlights the executive, urging companies to think about both components of the business as unified, rather than separate.
PIGOs after POGOs
The growth in PIGOs came about during COVID, as the nation sought to diversify its revenue streams and tap into the local market, which sustained it through a period of significant economic turmoil – both locally and in the source markets of its primary casino clients.
Even as PIGOs began to take off, Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGOs) began to fly too close to the sun, attracting both public vitriol and government attention.
Now, following the Executive Order that banned POGO operations from December 31st of 2024, new legislation was passed ensuring that POGOs will not rise again.
Pisano celebrates the elimination of bad actors in the POGO realm but also laments the closure of legitimate operations caught up in the broad-stroke approach.
“The POGOs were infiltrated by, basically, scam factories – girlfriend scams, financial scams, trafficking, you name it. And they took over [that aspect of] the gaming industry,” he notes.
“Authoring the bill to completely stamp out offshore gaming is a consequence of allowing criminals to come into the industry […] it had to be stopped”.
The bill itself goes beyond just prohibiting the operation of offshore gaming, with options for seizure of assets, the prohibition of the country’s gaming regulator from authorizing any more offshore operators, and harsh penalties for those that abet illegal POGOs.
But, as always, the illegal operations will still find some way to survive.
“Even as a PIGO operator, we are competing with a lot of illegal operators,” notes Pisano. And PIGOs need to do everything to keep their nose clean.
“We deal with integrated resorts, with licensed properties. You’re not going to have any PIGO operator setting up scam factories. There are resorts with billions invested in their land-based operation. They would never risk that by setting up a girlfriend scam,” highlights the executive.
A long road, but more fun to come
Pisano notes that Jade was the fourth license under the PIGO regime, with the original intention for the set up to be sports betting, which then expanded to eGames during the pandemic, facilitated by the expansion of PAGCOR’s charter.
And the possibilities are growing, with new properties opening outside of Entertainment City, with particular growth in Clark.
Pisano notes that, following the eruption of Mount Pinatubo in 1991, the region was looking for a recovery avenue, with casinos being one of Pisano’s suggestions to the then-Tourism Secretary Jose Antonio Gonzalez.
And the region is now dialing down on its potential, with new openings which take advantage of the quicker transit time, subdivisions, and a strong “cash economy” due to the strong farming production.
And this also provides possibilities for online operations.
According to PAGCOR’s recent list, there are some 64 Approved Online Gaming Platforms for Licensed Casinos (as of June 9th). The first ones on the list are mostly located in Clark (just a coincidence, but telling nonetheless). Pisano notes that not all of the registered operators are actually active, with maybe two-thirds truly making use of their accreditation.
But just because you have a license and know how to run a casino doesn’t mean that the transition to online is going to be seamless.
Pisano advises that outside help could be beneficial to companies aiming to navigate the new space, taking cues from the rampant success seen in the online gaming space of Europe and the United States. The executive notes that this could help “enhance their online, without taking away from their land-based operations, treating it as one business”.
Even the nation’s gaming regulator has announced its intentions to venture into the online space, despite some trepidation, also encouraging further changes to regulations as more data allow for a clearer picture of the online space – one which surpassed land-based revenue in the first quarter of this year – topping PHP104.12 billion ($1.84 billion).
As the Philippines moves past POGOs, the PIGO realm is ripe for expansion, as long as companies do it right.
