Aspire Global Casinos
Today, there are hundreds of different casinos to choose from when deciding where to play. This level of choice is excellent for us players, and increases the amount of competition between sites. But it is clear when you start to compare your options that many sites seem to look remarkably similar. The buttons and links all seem the same and work the same way. The type of games and even the payment options seem virtually identical…
Well, this is no coincidence. But on the other hand neither is it a sinister conspiracy. If you think about it, the amount of work necessary to design an online casino from scratch would be incredibly high. You’d need to do all the site design and programming from scratch, so you’d need to hire an expert team of web designers. Then you’d need to set up accounts with all the major game design companies. Then there’d be the need to negotiate contracts with all the different payment organisations, like Visa, Mastercard, Neteller, PayPal, Trustly and so on.
Ready to go? Not really – you need chat hosts, customer support staff, fraud prevention and security experts, market analysts to optimise your site design and game offerings… the list is endless. Ok, you’ve done all that. Oh dear. No-one knows about your site. You’d better hire some marketing staff to design and start a promotional campaign. Maybe set up some online advertising.
Finally ready to go? Oops, you haven’t even got a licence yet.
You can see that this whole process would be very expensive and time consuming. Thankfully, there is a solution – a white label solution! This is where this similarity between sites can be explained. There are companies which specialise in setting up online casinos.
All you need to do if you are a prospective casino operator is buy one of these “white label” sites from an established operator and most of the above, if not all of it, can be taken care of. It’s like buying “off the peg”. All you would then need to do is decide on your name and brand, pay a big fat fee, and you’re more or less ready for market. This is the reason why so many sites look like they are the same but with a different badge and brand on top.
I suppose it does look a bit like cheating – it certainly is a short cut. But there again, it does mean that we players have (or appear to have) much more choice when it comes to deciding where to play our games online. Aspire Global is one such “white label” design company, but there are many. In fact, Aspire Global Casino sites are one of the newer entrants to this market.
So who are Aspire Global and where have they come from?
The company was founded in 2005. Its immediate goal was to provide an all-purpose platform so that prospective online casino operators could effectively buy a fully functioning site “off the shelf” and be up and running in the quickest possible time.
It quickly developed just such an offering. Its new template provided everything a casino operator could need to succeed in online gaming. This included the design and marketing of a fully functioning site; customer services management in several languages; providing all payment services, together with security and data protection and fraud prevention; marketing and promotional services plus all the market analysis to run a successful casino.
The company also organised licences for several different jurisdictions. At the time of writing, the company boasts the ability to operate under six different licencing territories, including Malta and the United Kingdom. All Aspire sites are fully compliant with UK legal requirements and are fully regulated by the UK Gambling Commission. This means that they are considered safe to play for players based within the United Kingdom.
In the years since its formation, the company has forged a successful niche in the UK gaming market. At the time of writing, it has around 150 employees and is headquartered in Sliema on the Mediterranean island of Malta. It also has a satellite office based in Tel Aviv, the capital of Israel. In practice, the operational side of the business is based in Malta, while the management and finances are controlled via the Tel Aviv office.
It certainly has been successful. In the last financial year for which figures are available (2017), its total revenues amounted to just under €72 million. This was an 18% increase on the previous year, demonstrating the company’s phenomenal growth. Earnings after the deduction of tax had also risen to just over €12 million, a more modest increase of 6% over the previous year. This was because of an increasing investment in strategic acquisitions and the development of its sportsbook offering. At the time of writing, shares were trading at around 34 SEK, a rise of around 13% from its original offer price less than a year previously.
2017 also saw the company achieve its first public listing, on the Swedish Nasdaq First North Premier stock exchange, based in Stockholm. The shares on offer were oversubscribed. The share launch valued the company at 330 million Swedish krona (SEK) which is equivalent to just under £30 million.
What do Aspire Casino Sites Have to Offer?
Despite its relative youth, and considering its recent entry into what is already a very competitive field, Aspire Global casinos have already managed to forge a very considerable reputation.
This has been achieved by using this relative youth to differentiate itself and make it particularly attractive to both aspiring casino operators and their players. More established white label designers were formed when the “big box” PC and Mac were king. But today, most gaming is done on smaller devices like smartphones and tablets, over Wi-Fi and 4G, or maybe even 5G by the time you read this. Flash technology and fixed phone lines are so yesterday.
Aspire global casino sites, being later to the scene, have been able to skip this stage and go straight to mobile. Designed from scratch using HTML5, they are optimised for play on your mobile or tablet, whilst also being totally compatible with PC, Mac or laptop for when you finally get home from your busy day.
Another difference which appeals to players is the company’s commitment to customer service. It can be difficult to get proper help and support if you get into difficulties when playing games at many casinos. We are playing online, but sometimes it is better or necessary to communicate with an actual human being. Aspire Global take pride in making themselves as accessible to players as possible. In fact, they are committed to the acronym “CARE”: Customers Are Really Everything. A bit cheesy I know, but in this case it is not just PR puffery nor merely paying lip service. They really do seem to mean it.
To demonstrate this, Aspire powered sites’ players all have access to a customer services team which can be contacted by live chat, e-mail or phone, from around 8am to midnight, every day of the week. The precise contact hours can vary a little depending on your precise time zone.
When it comes to the games, all sites have an excellent range. Most exceed four hundred different titles to choose from. Slots are particularly well stocked. Aspire have signed licencing agreements with over twenty of the biggest names in game design. This means that you can select from the best titles from top companies like Microgaming, NetEnt and NextGen Gaming, so all today’s famous games will more than likely be there. Plus you get many of the newer, innovative design start-ups (or upstarts if you prefer), like Iron Dog, Skillz Gaming and Thunderkick. So there is always something new and challenging to try amongst all the old popular favourites.
You’ll get all the main table games, like Baccarat, Blackjack, Poker and Roulette, all in different formats. For most sites, this includes some superb live gaming. These are provided by Evolution Gaming, who are widely regarded as one of the leaders in the field.
Finally, you usually get a good selection of a couple of dozen or so instant games, including formats like lotto and scratch cards.
Payment options are extensive too. All the usual conventional methods are provided, such as Visa and MasterCard credit and debit cards, plus e-payment choices like Neteller and Skrill. You also get the pre-payment format Paysafecard, plus a selection of more recent payment options, such as entropay, Trustly and Zimpler.
At the time of writing, Aspire Global software powers around half a dozen different casinos which are available to United Kingdom based players. These include Atlantic Spins, Barbados Casino, Magic Red and Kaiser Slots. Aspire also launched the Mr Play sportsbook and casino site toward the end of 2017.
When compared with some of its more experienced and big name rivals, Aspire Global is most definitely a new kid on the block. But the newcomer certainly has a lot to offer. It has already achieved a good reputation within the gaming industry and its casino platform provides a good variety of games, flexible payment options and excellent customer service. With its new sportsbook offering now off the ground and further casino launches in the pipeline, it is a name that is well worth looking out for. If you want to find out more about Aspire and the full list of casinos on the network then we’d recommend visiting aspirecasinos.com