Investrend Research and The River City Group today launched the RivTrend Global I-Gaming Stock Index
TM, a US $5.7 billion capitalization index that tracks Internet gaming through the stocks of the industry's 15 leading public companies. The stocks of these companies trade on major markets in North America, London, Stockholm and Australia. The worldwide growth of interactive gaming is reflected by these companies, and is the fastest growing sector of gaming. Two regional sub-indices--the North America Index and the EuroAustralia index--will be computed as well.
The Global Index and the two regional sub-indices are initially available at www.rivercitygroup.com, www.igamingnews.com and www.investrend.com.
By 2004, it is estimated that over US $6 billion will be wagered worldwide via the Internet, up from $1 billion in 1998. The fifteen indexed companies are the industry leaders in Internet gaming software, all forms of Internet gaming, and the leading land-based operators that have implemented a substantial Internet brand expansion strategy. The major London and continent-based land gaming companies have launched aggressive use of the Internet for their brand extension. Several American casino companies are currently precluded by regulation from Internet wagering and have initiated "Play for Fun" branding strategies. The
American casino companies are not presently included in the Global Index.
With a market cap of US $ 493 million, the eight North American traded companies included in the RivTrend Global I-Gaming Stock IndexTM
Autotote (NYSE-TTE)
Chartwell Technology (CDNX-CWH)
CryptoLogic (NASDAQ - CRYP)
eLot (NASDAQ - ELOT)
dot com Entertainment (OTCBB - DCEG)
Starnet Communication (OTCBB - SNMM)
Virtgame (OTCBB - VGTI)
Youbet (NASDAQ - UBET)
The seven European and Australian Index have a US $5.2 billion market cap and represent 91 percent of the Global Index. They are:
- Boss Media (Stockholm - BOSS)
- ENIC Plc (London Stock Exchange - ENI)
- Hilton Group, Plc (LSE - HG.)
- GoCorp (Australian Stock Exchange - GOC)
- Ebet (ASE - EBT)
- Stanley Leisure (LSE - SLY)
The RivTrend Global I-Gaming Stock IndexTM is produced by two of the leading firms involved in I-Gaming industry services and equity research. The River City Group, based in St. Charles, MO, is the leading consulting firm to the interactive gaming industry, and is publisher of Interactive Gaming News. The Firm sponsors each year the highly acclaimed Global Interactive Gaming Summit and Expo, most recently held May 2000 in Montreal, Canada. Sue Schneider, president of The River City Group, was a founder and is the current chairman of the Interactive Gaming Counsel, the international
trade association for the Interactive Gaming Industry.
Investrend Research, based in Los Angeles and New York City, is one of the leading independent equity research firms. John M. Dutton, Director of Research, is a leader in equity research on I-gaming industry stocks. Investrend, with a research staff of 19 security analysts, follows and publishes on a broad range of companies in North America. It recently established analyst team coverage of I-Gaming stocks and the industry. Investrend's equity research reports are distributed from its own site (www.investrend.com) and through leading financial firms such as I/B/E/S, Zacks, Multex, Investext, and the smallcapcenter.com.
In January 2001, the two firms will host GameVest 2001, an analysts and investor conference at The New York Society of Security Analysts in New York City. The agenda includes presentations by industry experts, analyst forum, and presentations by the leading North American and international I-gaming companies. GameVest 2001 is intended to provide analysts, institutions, and other investors with an understanding of I-gaming, industry investments, and its impact on the overall gaming industry. With 91 percent of the Index market capitalization traded on London and other major exchanges, its growth is not well known in the United States. Admission to GameVest 2001 will be by registration available shortly at www.rivercitygroup.com or www.investrend.com.