Jeff Ifrah Talks iGaming M&A: Opportunities, Strategies, and Smart Plays

By: Ifrah Law

One of the best-known power players in iGaming, Jeff Ifrah is both the team captain and the founding MVP of Ifrah Law’s nationally ranked Online Gaming and Sports Betting practice. His strength as a litigator is matched by his depth as a business strategist and counselor. A respected dealmaker, Jeff has helped to incubate, structure and advise on many of the industry’s game-changing M&A transactions and start-up launches. He also is a first-call sensei for entrepreneurs seeking orientation in this high-risk, high-reward environment. For many, meeting Jeff Ifrah has marked an inflection point in a successful business journey.

Sustaining Momentum in M&A

Following the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2018 PASPA decision, and the imminent opening of online gaming and sports betting markets across the country, M&A activity surged, with Jeff Ifrah shaping deals for a range of clients. Jeff and his team have negotiated and closed many critical transactions, while factoring in the complexities of state gaming laws and regulations, antitrust and SEC matters, cross-border implications, and talent factors. Ifrah Law served as counsel in over $200 billion of M&A transactions since 2021.

As new states introduce regulated iGaming it sparks intense business activities as a new supporting ecosystem is built for that jurisdiction. Beyond online gaming operators, a range of advertisers, KYC vendors, geolocation software providers, payment processors, customer acquisition and retention companies, responsible gaming technology vendors, and others invest to participate in this ecosystem – many with guidance from Jeff and the Ifrah Law team.

“Major opportunities continue in this space. We’ve seen operators sold to competitors, and vertical consolidation among competitors. There’ve been tie-ups of companies that acquire major subcontractors to seek efficiencies. We’ve also seen acquisitions in the affiliate marketing, advertising and customer retention spaces. I believe that’s going to continue.”

Strategy for Big Players (and Rookies)

While litigation consumes most of his time, Jeff devotes considerable time to acting as a business strategist for his clients. He works with startups, small operators and large operators that are seeking acquisitions or pivots to additional verticals, among other strategic moves. These diverse clients share one passion: to continue providing their customers with great entertainment products, while also attracting new customers. Jeff also enjoys talking with prospective clients who are new to the online gaming space, are weighing different ideas, and are unsure what legal risks they face.

“There are a lot of smart entrepreneurs who are very interested in online gaming, but who haven’t yet identified their niche. I spend a lot of time talking to these individuals – often it’s just for a few minutes and I don’t bill for the time. I see it as a service that adds value and that might lead to us working together some day.”

MVP Highlight Reel

Smart Play: Turning Regulatory Obstacles into Opportunity

Jeff had an initial meeting with a client who had created a new game and was teaming up with an operator to pursue a license to get the game on the operator’s platform. The client seemed resigned to the trials ahead: investing hundreds of thousands to get a license, competing for players against other platform games, all for (at best) a single-digit share of game revenue.

Based on his experience with regulators and their decision-making processes, Jeff proposed that the client, the operator-partner and Jeff meet with the regulator to make a case that the new game should not require a license at all – based on its being a skill-based product, rather than a game of chance. By going directly to the regulator to seek relief from the arduous approval process, the client could speed up release of the game, thereby improving the commercial factors that drive revenue and profitability, and saving perhaps millions of dollars in legal and administrative fees.

The Assist: Connecting Innovation with Investment

One of Jeff’s clients called to inquire about licensing an innovative, AI-powered tool for iGaming. The client explained that players face bewildering complexity when trying to place sports bets. With such diverse bets available on so many games, players often don’t know where to start. The client’s proposed product would let players find “best-fit” bets based on tailored preferences, across all available sports books, and then place those bets through the tool.

Jeff quickly saw the potential of the client’s concept and offered to source potential investors for the project. Jeff contacted another forward-looking investor client who had expressed interest in funding revolutionary iGaming startups. Jeff brought the two clients – inventor and investor – together, which resulted in a partnership that is now vigorously developing the new tool.