Bloomberry shares pump on MegaFUNalo launch

Shares of Enrique Razon’s casino resort operator, Bloomberry [BLOOM 5.69 ?3.9%; 349% avgVol] [link], surged on Monday after it launched its online gaming platform, MegaFUNalo, with a marketing blitz in print and social media. According to GGR Asia, the MegaFUNalo platform “features free-to-play games, live shows, and real-money prizes, as well as free-to-watch movies. It offers digital versions of slot and casino games such as poker, blackjack, roulette, and baccarat, as well as several arcade games.” MegaFUNalo will “complement” BLOOM’s existing online gaming platform, Solaire Online, which is more focused on live casino games and integration with BLOOM’s physical casino assets. BLOOM shares were up 18.4% on Monday, but slid back 3.9% during yesterday’s session. 

  MB BOTTOM-LINE:  The MegaFUNalo launch had a lot of buzz online, which is exactly what BLOOM will need if it wants to go toe-to-toe with the heavyweight champ, DigiPlus [PLUS 61.10 ?5.9%; 254% avgVol], and its 7.5 million monthly active users. All of my coverage of BLOOM’s digital offering has been somewhat negative because BLOOM’s own PR framed this new offering to sound like just an extension of Solaire Online. That made me think Razon’s strategy was too tied to the physical casinos in some kind of sunk cost fallacy kind of way. But this launch took a different approach, with goofy gamified characters straight out of something titos and titas might play on their phones while waiting for their turn to sing at a family reunion. That’s the sweet spot. Online gaming isn’t about glitz and glamor. It’s about convenience and “fun”. Oh, and losing money to Ricky “The House” Razon.

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