Online gaming software provider Parlay Entertainment Inc. and Mexican race and sports book operator Hipodromo de Agua Caliente, S.A. de C.V. have partnered to create an e-bingo site geared toward the Mexican and South American markets.
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"Bingo is one of the most popular games in the world, and yet Spanish-speaking players have been vastly underserved by the online game."
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Due to launch in the third quarter of 2005, "eBingo Caliente" will have a Spanish-language interface featuring Spanish-speaking callers and a 90-number bingo game. Officials with both companies say their partnership will mark a key milestone for interactive gaming's penetration of the Spanish-speaking markets.
Andrew Branscombe, vice president of sales for Parlay Entertainment Inc., said having the Tijuana-based Caliente as a licensee is a sign of the burgeoning marketplace that is Internet bingo.
"Caliente has a proud history of firsts, including the distinction of being the first online sports book to link with satellites in the 1990s," Branscombe said. "eBingo Caliente will give this well known entertainment brand first-mover status in a very large and relatively untapped entertainment market."
Branscombe said most of the leading online bingo sites cater to English-speaking players based in North America and the United Kingdom--a relatively small portion of the online bingo market.
"Bingo is one of the most popular games in the world, and yet Spanish-speaking players have been vastly underserved by the online game," he said.
Victor de la Fuente, corporate director of wagering and new projects for Caliente, said the joint venture creates a formidable partnership in the online bingo space.
"With the combination of Parlay's leading bingo solutions and Caliente's gaming operations," de la Fuente said, "our two companies look forward to bringing the excitement of Internet bingo into Mexico."
Headquartered in Oakville, Ontario, Parlay is the inventor and patent holder of Internet bingo1, the company's signature interactive bingo platform. It bills itself as the first to develop and deploy a bingo (75-number and 90-number), lottery and casino software suite.
More than 2.2 million online users played Parlay games through its licensee's gaming Web sites in the last year alone
Caliente has a 90-plus-year history of operating racetracks and betting operations in Tijuana. Its roots go back to the famous Agua Caliente Race Track, made even more famous in the recent movie Seabiscuit. Today the company operates more than 160 race and sports books, where customers can wager on greyhound and horse races from all over the world, as well as major international sporting events. It has facilities in Antigua, Argentina, Aruba, Brazil, Colombia, Curacao, Ecuador, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, St. Maarten, Uruguay, Venezuela and Austria.
Caliente already operates Internet-based sports and race betting services out of Mexico. Parlay's licensees, meanwhile, operate out of Malta and Kahnawake. The companies did not say where the new bingo site will be based.