Luckbox parent Real Luck Group poised to begin trading on TSX Venture Exchange

Real Luck Group Ltd (CVE:LUCK), the parent company of esports betting brand Luckbox, detailed some of its ambitious plans for the year ahead as its shares began trading on the TSX Venture Exchange in Toronto on Wednesday. Luckbox is listing on the public markets just 20 months after accepting its first bet and after a year that had seen rapid growth in esports viewing and betting, which led to the group reporting a 500% increase in turnover during the spring lockdown. In the summer, Real Luck Group prepared for listing with a CA$6mln funding round from investors including professional footballer Luis Robles, who plays in goal for MLS team Inter Miami. Luckbox has seen first-hand the spike in players moving from betting on sports to betting on esports in 2020, says chief executive officer Quentin Martin, who added that the specialist online bookmaker has managed to lock up around 75% of its gains. Online gaming channel Twitch has reported 15mln active users who watch video game streaming every day, and saw its viewed hours increase 50% between the first and second quarters of 2020 to 5bn, while Facebook’s smaller gaming channel saw viewership increase 75% over the same period. “We have clear evidence that players who tried esports betting for the first time enjoyed it and stuck with us,” Martin said in a statement ahead of the company’s first day of dealings. Esports was predicted last year by PwC to be facing the highest growth potential of any sport and that was before the coronavirus pandemic. “The events of 2020 have put esports in sharper focus. Many who weren’t paying attention certainly are now,” said Martin. The fast growth of esports betting this year was a large part of the group’s reasoning to go public this year. “I think another indication of esports’ shift into the mainstream was our EGR Award in November. The EGR Operator Awards are the Oscars of the betting industry and for us, an esports-dedicated platform, to be named Rising Star shows that the egaming world is taking esports seriously and accepts it is very much a vertical to watch,” Martin said. Looking ahead to 2021 he said there remains “huge” potential for further organic growth through marketing. “We’ll focus strongly on content marketing, affiliates, partnerships, influencers and direct media and we’ll be strengthening our marketing team with more key hires.” He said another focus will be on continued honing the product offering on Luckbox’s bespoke website, with launches of sports betting, development of a casino offering and “other cool features” aimed at attracting and retaining players. “We also have big plans from a B2B perspective, too. “We’re looking to bring odds compilation in-house and the most effective way for us to do that would be via a merger or acquisition. “This would also make Luckbox an even more attractive as a B2B solution for one of the gambling industry’s behemoths, who, as I have mentioned, are finally realising the value of having a truly authentic esports betting product.”