PokerStars Plans India Marketing Push in Q4 Following "Soft Launch" PokerStars Plans India Marketing Push in Q4 Following "Soft Launch"
Key Takeaways
  • PokerStars is planning a marketing push in India in the last quarter of this year, moving past what it calls a “soft launch” that started in April.
  • Since its launch, the operator has failed to make a significant dent in the market.
  • PokerStars accounts for just 7% of the cash game traffic in the market with approximately 57 concurrent cash game seats filled—much lower than India’s biggest operator Adda52.

Toronto-based global gaming giant The Stars Group, the parent company of the PokerStars, is planning a marketing push in India in the last quarter of this year, moving past what it called a “soft launch” period when it went live in April.

In a Q2 conference call on Monday, in response to an analyst’s question regarding the company’s progress in the Indian market, the operator admitted that its product was not yet ready for primetime.

“It’s very early days for India. To an extent I can say that the product is not really ready in full for the market,” stated Stars Group CEO Rafi Ashkenazi. “There are a few elements that we still need to—a few gaps that we still need to close before we start our marketing campaign, probably in Q4, more towards Q4 of this year.”

“You can refer to India currently as a soft launch where we’ll increase focus on this market probably starting in Q4.”