888 Holdings plc shareholders have approved the company's proposed name change, which is now evoke plc. The transition was approved by more than 98% of the company's voting stock, and the news was quickly shared via a renamed Twitter/X account:
Evoke is now the corporate parent of a small but well-known portfolio of international brands including the venerable William Hill, Mr. Green, and several 888-branded verticals, including 888poker. Speculation that the 888 name itself might disappear has proved unfounded, at least for the near future. "All consumer-facing brands, including William Hill, 888casino, 888sport, 888poker and Mr Green will continue to operate under their original names, as before," the company disclosed yesterday.
However, 888poker and 888casino will disappear soon from the US's online-retail space, meaning the New Jersey market. Those 888 brands will shutter on June 3 as part of 888's sale earlier this year, to Hard Rock Digital, of its US-facing business-to-consumer (B2C) assets.
Evoke execs embrace corporate name change
Though evoke will continue to collect ongoing brand-recognition and market revenue from the existing 888 verticals, the enthusiasm expressed in the shareholder vote may express an internal belief that the old corporate name has become timeworn, perhaps even stodgy.
"The transition to evoke, which better reflects the Group’s values, unifies colleagues under one clear identity and – alongside its strategic framework and value creation plan – will support the business in reaching its significant potential," the name-change announcement declares.
Evoke plc's CEO, Per Widerström, CEO, offered related comment. “Today marks the start of evoke’s exciting future. By bringing our business together under a single, unifying brand identity, evoke reflects our future-focused mindset and our commitment to bringing world-class betting and gaming experiences to our customers all over the world. With our clear strategic framework and value creation plan, we are confident that we can cement evoke’s place at the heart of the global betting and gaming industry for years to come.”
