It’s no secret that casinos and sportsbooks, whether online or land-based, have catered towards middle-aged men for a very long time. This wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. For many years, this demographic was the only one with access to enough money even to enter casinos, let alone gamble away freely.
However, that is not the case anymore, and it has not been for a very long time. More women and young people are entering the gambling space than ever, and companies are realising there is a lot of untapped potential there.
The number of women slot players has continued to grow every year, with G Games explaining that 44% of their players are female.
“European online casinos have said for years, ‘We have a male player base, men are far more valuable, and we should be catering to them,’” said Helen Walton, the Founder and Chief Commercial Officer at G Games.
And to a degree, she’s right. If you visit any online casino, you will see many titles featuring women in minimal clothing and suggestive posing, either in the artwork, the thumbnail or both. Following the boom of the live casino sector, almost all thumbnails feature beautiful women as the dealers.
There is nothing inherently wrong with this, nor should this come across like a jilted rant. But if companies want more revenue, they need to find a way to attract more players – and not just men.
“There’s perhaps a circular fallacy if you build slots for men and advertise to men, then you get male players, but the data is starting to get through to people,” Walton continued. “Online casino-game suppliers are starting to realise the spend of the female audience.”
One small step for man…
So if you were a slot designer, how would you develop a slot created specifically for women? Take some time to think for a moment.
If you answered by making it pink and adding bows to it then, unfortunately, you would be wrong.
“You want it to be universal,” Kimberly Cohn, Senior Director of Game Design at Light & Wonder explained. “Women don’t want to be pandered to and don’t want something specific like a butterfly game. That can be condescending.”
As more people discover iGaming and the demographics continue to diversify, so too have the portfolios from studios. This has led to new bonus features, mini-games and additional layers to keep the audience engaged with their products.
Some of the most genre-defining moments in this industry have come from slots that do not inherently appeal to the male gaze, such as Book of Dead, Big Bass Bonanza and Buffalo King.
Of course, this cannot be attributed solely to women, but more so to companies realising that there is not just one type of player on their sites, but many.
“At this point, it’s making games that appeal to everyone,” Cohn continued. “Why would you intentionally keep people from playing slots?”
… One giant leap for mankind…
Online casinos are not the only place where this phenomenon has taken place, either.
In prediction markets, Kalshi has started to market itself as a platform that offers it all, but its initial launch has made that difficult.
The latest data indicates that since its launch, around 88% of trades on Kalshi have been related to sports. There is also a thriving political market scene.
But is this all that Kalshi has to offer? Well, its executive teams seem to think otherwise.
The latest marketing campaigns from Kalshi are encouraging users to engage with the platform as part of Get Ready With Me (GRWM) routines, such as checking the weather for outfit planning, or monitoring their own situations regarding Taylor Swift and BTS.
Kalshi does not want to be just for the boys; it wants to cater to everyone, but it is currently struggling to find that hook for the female demographic.
Houston, we have a problem
There have been cases where companies have tried too hard to appeal to women, such as the Halo TikTok account that reduced female engagement to glitter and sparkles. This resulted in such severe backlash that the account was eventually shut down.
This is, perhaps, the critical lesson here.
For years, companies have focused primarily on men because that was their core audience. As businesses realise that women might also be interested in sports and casinos, some have struggled to develop products that are for ‘them.'
But that is the point. For many services, women might not need products that are ‘for women.' They want to feel welcome in a space that offers high-quality products and positive experiences.
How do you market towards women effectively?
Creating products that will appeal to women and effectively marketing them are two very different skills.
For some marketing teams, this had led to the creation of women-only affiliate sites and female influencers being platformed to showcase products. Men already feel welcome on gambling sites, but going that extra step and creating space for women in marketing campaigns lets an audience know that everyone is welcome there. And more players means more revenue.
Using Immortal Romance or Taylor Swift events contracts are a great way to signpost to women that they are welcome in a certain space, but high-quality, universal experiences will be what keeps them there for the long run.