Interview to Mark Epstein, CEO of Gana Media Group
The opportunity in front of us is significant, but the focus now is execution.
Over the past year we have been building the foundations of GANA across gaming, sports content, streaming, apps, live data, technology, and customer acquisition. What is particularly encouraging is that those different parts of the business are increasingly starting to reinforce each other.
Our customers do not experience sport in silos. They move between content, live events, statistics, video, apps, and gaming. Our job is to make that journey as connected, relevant, and exciting as possible.
A major advantage for GANA is that we own the ecosystem through which much of that journey takes place. That gives us much greater control over the customer experience.
A customer can discover a story through one of our content platforms, watch live football or video, follow data around the match, receive an insight or prediction, interact with an experience, and ultimately move into gaming. Instead of those moments existing separately, we can increasingly connect them. We are already seeing that behavior across our apps and products.
Fans expect information to be live, relevant, and connected to what is happening in that moment. We are delivering live gaming data, building live streaming experiences, and increasingly connecting our content and gaming products.
The excitement of sport is central to all of this. Whether it is football, the NFL, basketball, or one of the world’s major sporting events, the drama, rivalry, and anticipation already exist. Our role is to build products that amplify those moments.
Mexico is an exceptional market in which to do that because of the size of the connected audience and the passion for sport. We saw that very clearly during the World Cup. Gaming turnover in the final week was more than 162% higher than the first week of June. Registrations increased by 136% across the same period, and Gross Gaming Revenue increased by 227%. Those numbers demonstrate the acquisition power of major sporting events.
But operationally, the bigger opportunity is what happens next. We want someone who joins GANA around one event to continue engaging with us through the next match, competition, and sport. Owning the ecosystem helps us do that.
Our content gives customers reasons to interact with us every day. Streaming and video deepen engagement. Our apps give us a direct customer relationship. Live data makes the experience more immediate. Gaming creates another way to participate.
AI increasingly allows us to understand how those interactions fit together. That means we can learn what customers are interested in, improve the experience, and make the next interaction increasingly relevant.
It also allows us to operate faster. We are using AI across research, customer insight, data analysis, prototyping, and product development, helping us identify opportunities and respond to changing customer behavior far more quickly.
Our strategy is therefore not simply about acquiring the largest possible number of customers. It is about creating increasingly valuable customer relationships.
The better we understand the customer, the better experience we can deliver. Better experiences create engagement. Engagement creates retention. And retention ultimately creates a stronger business.
Our focus now is to continue connecting the ecosystem, improving the customer experience, and using technology to execute faster.
Ultimately, we want GANA to become part of the way our customers experience sport every day, not simply somewhere they visit for one particular event.
