Michigan: Soaring Eagle Casino and GAN launch online gaming & sportsbook platform as state's 15th operator

The Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe of Michigan, which owns and operates Soaring Eagle Casino & Resort, located near Mount Pleasant, is launching Eagle Casino & Sports, their online casino and sports wagering platform. The Michigan Gaming Control Board has already authorized Soaring Eagle to become the state’s 15th sports betting operator.

The platform features over 400 slot games, live dealer table game action, traditional table games, and sports betting. The product is available to casino and sports fans that are 21 and older, which may wager within the state regulatory boundaries. First-time registrants are being offered to choose between a risk-free sports bet up to $1,000, or a casino deposit up to $1,500.

Soaring Eagle partnered with platform provider GAN for the product, which is now live. The launch is expected to allow Soaring Eagle Casino, the largest gaming venue in the state, to capitalize on the expanding sports and iGaming markets. The casino has a sizable database of patrons, who the parties anticipate converting into active online players.

“We are excited to leverage GAN’s proven technical capability, product offering and marketing performance in the State of Michigan to support our iGaming and online sports betting now operational on PlayEagle.com,” said Melinda Coffin, Chief Executive Officer of Soaring Eagle.

“GAN’s enterprise software and marketing expertise will help drive improved adoption and retention of our online offering for current and future players and we look forward to seeing the newly-launched online business complement our established retail gaming business in the coming years,” she added.

GAN has deployed the company’s GameSTACK software platform onto the client’s technical infrastructure deployed on-property. Both parties collaborated on the design and developing process of the front-end web application, PlayEagle.com, together with counterpart native Apple iOS and Android apps, which are expected by the end of April.

The tech company has committed to deploy its loyalty iBridge Framework “later this year,” which will allow for the monetization of the Soaring Eagle patron database and leverage the tribe’s on-property retail loyalty program.

Additionally, the scope of the agreement has been updated from its former terms to include fully managed marketing by GAN via the company’s marketing services team specialists. GAN is set to drive online user acquisition and player retention by acting in collaboration with Soaring Eagle’s on-property retail marketing and player development teams, a press release explains.

The launch is a major opportunity for Soaring Eagle, which already has a solid land presence through a 210,000 square-foot casino facility, to enter a new market. But it also provides GAN with a fourth client in the state and its tenth client for real-money online gambling technology in the US.

Soaring Eagle is also set to launch a retail sportsbook

“We are thankful for Soaring Eagle’s confidence in our B2B platform offering and the opportunity to bring Michigan’s largest Tribal casino operator online,” said Dermot S. Smurfit, President & CEO of GAN. “This launch for Soaring Eagle represents the best of GAN’s B2B services, purpose-built for Tribal operators.”

The executive said that given Michigan’s status as a booming market, remaining strong since launch more than a year ago; and Soaring Eagle’s strong brand, sizable database and planned marketing investment, the business is expected to “take their fair share of the Michigan online gambling market.”

“Michigan now has a full complement of 15 internet gaming and sports betting providers,” said Henry Williams, executive director, Michigan Gaming Control Board. “All of Michigan’s federally recognized tribes are offering internet gaming and sports betting. I congratulate the Saginaw Chippewa tribe as they expand their gaming offerings.”