The keynote speech, delivered by the Group CEO of Entain Plc, opened the SBC Barcelona Summit, as Entain was thrust into the worldwide spotlight following a $22 billion offer made by DraftKings Inc. yesterday.

As incumbents confront a decade of new challenges, Jette Nygaard-Andersen has emphasised that global gaming leadership must take their remit of preserving a healthy business as a "common-sense goal."

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Andersen acknowledged the changes, but she remained focused on her speech, which was about ‘building a customer-led entertainment platform' to speed innovation and change.

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Andersen claimed that while business looks to be returning to normal, including live events, it was unable to undo the alterations that had occurred in consumers because of the COVID-19 epidemic, which she referred to as "irreversible impacts."

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Andersen spoke on her leadership style, saying that she intended to create a culture at Entain where teams "must recognise that their units must be responsive to disruptive changes caused by the client at any given time."

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Andersen noted that igaming incumbents had characteristics with technology and entertainment behemoths like Amazon, Netflix, and Spotify in her initial assessment of the market. However, inadequate platform management and a crude use of data to engage customers have hampered the industry's engagement and product qualities.

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“Before joining Entain, I spent 25-years in media and entertainment, observing a period of constant change,” Andersen remarked.

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She cited recent improvements in Australian horseracing material as well as the opening of Entain's in-house slot studio, whose debut titles had topped the firm's US BetMGM joint-igaming venture's performance. However, the CEO cautioned that product relevance must be combined with honesty and trust, qualities that she feels customers prefer over regulatory demands.

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“For gambling, it’s about doing what is right, we have to monitor our customers with scientific research to protect that vulnerable minority from harms – our customers appreciate that.”

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Anderson came to the conclusion that, while the opening of the US market had seen gambling grow at a double-digit rate, the industry's larger technology and entertainment objectives could not be realised if operators' roles and obligations were dispersed.

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