The Cornell-educated executive, who leads gaming at Bloomberry’s upscale Solaire casinos, found himself in the middle of a noontime taping of the hit TV program It’s Showtime, taking notes and observing an unfamiliar environment.
“It was very eye-opening and probably the thing I learned the most is I didn’t know anything. I gotta learn a lot. And then, we started working,” Sherafat told InsiderPH in an exclusive interview.
About a year ago, Bloomberry decided it was time to challenge online gambling market leader DigiPlus Interactive, the publicly-listed firm chaired by tycoon Eusebio Tanco and backed by Chinese investors, which operates popular platforms like BingoPlus and ArenaPlus.
Bloomberry’s digital offering, Solaire Online, was seen as too intimidating for wider audiences. While Solaire Online will continue to complement casino operations, they needed to come up with something more accessible.
Online gaming pivot
“The decision to pivot was not a difficult one,” Sherafat said.
The idea was presented to tycoon Enrique Razon Jr., the billionaire-owner of Bloomberry, the largest operator of integrated casinos in the Philippines.
“We approached Mr. Razon to ask him and he said ‘yeah, why didn’t you think of that sooner?’” Sherafat recalled.
Full launch in a few months
Last week, Bloomberry soft-launched MegaFUNalo!, a playful spin on the word “fun” that, according to their surveys, had strong brand recall among users.
Sherafat said the web-based platform is already live, while the mobile gaming app could launch within the next two months.
For now, the group is fine-tuning its systems and is learning as it goes in preparation for the grand launch around September this year.
Razon eyes online market leadership
While DigiPlus has had a three-year head start, Sherafat believes there’s a strong chance for Bloomberry to seize its share of the market.
“In two years’ time, we would like to be 20 percent of the market,” he said.
The goal is to continue growing and eventually become the market leader.
“Our aspiration is to be No. 1,” Sherafat said.
“We know it’s a big mountain to climb. We have a lot of great people on our team, a lot of creativity behind us. I do think there’s room in the market [for more competition],” he said.
This will also require a sharp increase in marketing activities.
Sherafat said they initially plan to spend P1-2 billion per quarter on marketing MegaFUNalo! but they are ready to adjust as brand awareness and demand picks up.
“If it’s doing well, you spend more. If it’s not doing well, you change how you spend it,” he said.
Growing pains
While Sherafat could not disclose registration figures this early in the rollout, he noted that MegaFUNalo is already ramping up customer support to keep up with a growing volume of user inquiries, a sign that business is off to a strong start.
“I would ask for a little patience,” Sherafat said.
“We anticipated demand but we didn’t anticipate demand that was so high in terms of customers coming in to enjoy so obviously we are continuing to ramp up and provide the best customer service,” he added.
Gaming stocks on a roll
Meanwhile, investors are already placing their bets, lifting the company’s battered share price.
Bloomberry’s value has grown nearly 57 percent over the past month and 32 percent since the start of 2025.
The stock, valued at P6.18 per share with a market capitalization of P71 billion, is still trading below recent highs, but investors are optimistic about Bloomberry’s potential to grow its new online business.
Despite the prospect of new competition, investors haven’t shifted away from DigiPlus, whose stock price jumped over 37 percent in the past month to P62.80 each.
This adds to gains of about 130 percent for the year.
Thanks to its relentless rally, DigiPlus is now valued at nearly P280 billion, and some projections are calling for even more upside.
Online is here to stay?
Online gaming’s rapid growth is backed by strong government support, with the state-run Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. helping legitimize the sector in an effort to boost tax revenues while combating illegal gambling.
And while further regulations on online gaming cannot be ruled out, its success and growing contribution to the nation’s coffers suggest it’s here to stay.
“We definitely have seen that this is the future of gaming in the Philippines,” Sherafat said.
Miguel R. Camus has been a reporter covering various domestic business topics since 2009.
