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Its noisy and crowded parlours, he notes, do little to attract Japan’s critical demographic of women aged 40 and over. They “do not find pachi facilities comfortable or appealing”.
Given that women account for nearly 60% of gaming customers in the US, Klebanow argues that Japan’s IRs should instead offer environments where this demographic feels “safe and comfortable”. The key lesson from pachinko, he concludes, is therefore “not to create gaming environments that mimic them”.
Ultimately Leckert remains positive on Japan’s IR opportunity. “Stringent regulation really supports a strong industry,” she says. “I don’t see those being at odds with one another, because it’s been done very successfully elsewhere.”
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“We look increasingly at our business as one customer ecosystem or one customer platform, if you will,” he added. “I keep saying that SunBet probably wouldn’t be where it is today without a land-based business, and a land-based business probably wouldn’t be where it is today without SunBet.
“We continuously leverage off one another. Now, having said that, we know that almost all of us, or at least the vast majority of our land-based customers are playing online, but not all of them are playing with SunBet, so we see that bit as the opportunity.”
Kyle has been with Clarion since December 2023, joining from the world of sports journalism, subsequently becoming a LatAm-facing senior reporter with iGB.
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CFTC Chairman Michael Selig signaled that possibility back in August. The agency was considering how its existing powers could be used to create a dedicated market structure for digital assets that are standard, he said.
A new type of Designated Contract Market (DCM) dedicated to crypto trading is among the elements being looked at. Selig’s approach would enable existing and perhaps new crypto exchanges to gain CFTC recognition and offer leveraged or margined digital asset products under rules tailored for the sector.
However, the latest filing does not create such a system right away. Its OIRA entry describes the action as a preliminary measure and says it is not economically significant under the relevant review criteria. No legal deadline has been listed for review either.