Zynga Opts Out Of U.S. Online Gambling

This story was published more than 10 years ago.

The CEO of social gaming firm Zynga shocked investors throughout the world by announcing that the California based firm would not attempt to offer real money online gambling services within the United States.

The announcement was made by the company's new CEO Dan Mattick, and caused the stock price to drop 16% in the process. "Zynga is making the focused choice not to pursue a license for real money gaming in the United States. Zynga will continue to evaluate all of its priorities against the growing market opportunity in free, social gaming, including social casino offerings," Mattick said.

Although the company is pulling out of any potential American real money offerings, the firm is apparently still committed to its British and European real money offerings.

Zynga also revealed its second quarter fiscal results. Key financial indicators for the period were:

  • Revenues dropped 31% y-o-y to $231 million

  • Active monthly player declined to 187 million (Q2-2012: 306 million) - Zynga's lowest since mid-2010. Monthly web numbers were 129 million and mobile was at 57 million.

  • A 1 cent per share loss, compared with a 1 cent profit a year ago.

  • $188 million in bookings - a measure of the value of virtual goods bought by players during the three-month period ending June 30, and a 38% drop from Q2-2013's $302 million.

  • Monthly unique payers were 1.9 million, down from 4.1 million a year ago and down 22% from the previous quarter.

  • On the plus side, the company has $1.5 billion in cash and investments, and Zynga’s average daily bookings per average daily user grew from $0.046 in the second quarter 2012 to $0.053 in the second quarter 2013, up 14% from a year ago.

About the author

Dustin Jermalowicz // News Editor
Dustin Jermalowicz
Dustin has a long-standing passion for gambling. He has been writing professionally on the subject and breaking industry news for Casino Listings since 2011. His favorite casino games include Blackjack, Poker, and Hi/Lo. A proud native of Detroit, Dustin currently lives in Michigan.
5 replies • Last post

Comments

usbarbadosslim93
Forum AngelForum Angel
barbadosslim93's picture
Location: Michigan
Joined: 28 Jan 2011
Posts: 15147
Thanks given: 849
Thanks received: 2154
26 July 2013 - 3:23pm
#1

I have to say that as a shareholder of Zynga that this really pisses me off. I fortunately bought this stock when it bottomed out last year, but I thought online gambling was Zynga's potential saving grace.

Ugh.

usUbetcha
True PlayerTrue Player
Ubetcha's picture
Joined: 28 Dec 2011
Posts: 880
Thanks given: 222
Thanks received: 85
28 July 2013 - 9:31pm
#2

Oh no.. thousands would be broken hearted, like me! 😢 But I do think they will reconsider the US in the future as soon as the online gambling will be legally established.

auCL-Ed
StaffStaff
CL-Ed's picture
Location: Sydney
Joined: 7 Sep 2007
Posts: 10400
Thanks given: 6286
Thanks received: 5350
28 July 2013 - 11:50pm
#3

Ouch. If you bought when it bottomed out then you can still sell and make a profit. This company disgusts me to be honest. They rip off other people's ideas to make pseudo "games" that are little more than treadmills aimed solely at extracting money from their customers for worthless virtual items and perks. When you consider that the founders dumped their stock and ran when it was priced around $15 and left shareholders holding the can, and that they paid over $200 million for the company that made Draw Something app (which was about $198 million too much) I'd enjoy seeing it go bankrupt. Sell sell sell!

barbadosslim93

Always play it safe! Consult our list of rogue casinos and warnings before depositing at a new casino.
Post in our forums to earn CLchips which can be used to buy real prizes in our CLchips shop.

usbarbadosslim93
Forum AngelForum Angel
barbadosslim93's picture
Location: Michigan
Joined: 28 Jan 2011
Posts: 15147
Thanks given: 849
Thanks received: 2154
29 July 2013 - 12:17am
#4

Already processed, Ed. I ended up dropping it out after I read this story and picked up about $0.70 per share.

I still did Okay, but I am not happy with what they did here.

auCL-Ed
StaffStaff
CL-Ed's picture
Location: Sydney
Joined: 7 Sep 2007
Posts: 10400
Thanks given: 6286
Thanks received: 5350
30 July 2013 - 12:19am
#5

Good move. 70c per share in a year is still a pretty good gain.

Always play it safe! Consult our list of rogue casinos and warnings before depositing at a new casino.
Post in our forums to earn CLchips which can be used to buy real prizes in our CLchips shop.