Product & technology – Page 9

August 9, 2022

The killer quartet of sportsbook performance

As sportsbooks in North America move from acquisition to retention, sportsbook performance has become more important than ever. But what does performance actually mean? Russell Karp of DataArt outlines the four key factors.

The promise presented by sports betting in North America has created severe competition. Beyond big casino and media giants like Disney, we see retail companies – such as Fanatics – trying to actively take their place in the market. New York sportsbooks alone brought $425 million in gross revenue in the first four months of 2022.

However, in a rush to be the first to attain licences and launch, operators often neglect the quality of their platforms. Early in 2022, when thousands of bettors flooded the freshly opened sportsbooks in New York, we saw betting platforms that were glitchy: a direct result of poor development. Bettors experienced technical issues such as login errors, the inability to place a bet or cash out, and more.

For example, Caesars faced a mas..

August 8, 2022

Influencer Jake Paul and Simplebet co-founder raise $50m for micro-betting site

Simplebet co-founder Joey Levy and social media personality Jake Paul have launched Betr, a new micro-betting company, with $50m in funding.

Levy will act as the company’s CEO while Paul takes the role of president. They are both named as co-founders.

Betr will allow customers to bet on smaller aspects of a game – including pitches and at-bats during baseball games, and plays and drives during football games. A Betr app is to be released in the coming weeks, which will be free-to-play initially, as the operator does not yet have any licences.

Read the full story on iGB North America.

August 3, 2022

OpenBet acquires Multi Builder ahead of sale to Endeavor

B2B sportsbook supplier OpenBet has acquired betting technology and trading business Multi Builder ahead of OpenBet’s own acquisition by sport media conglomerate Endeavor Group.

The deal comes soon after OpenBet owner Scientific Games slashed the sale price of OpenBet by $400m (£328.4m/€392.83), in order to ensure the deal closes smoothly.

Multi Builder was founded by industry veterans Oliver Preston and Jonathan Smith, with the business’ trading technology operating under the brand “Sportsbook Models”. The goal will be for the services to be integrated into OpenBet’s existing product portfolio.

Smith also founded sportsbook training company “Sportsbook Training Services Limited” and will provide training services exclusively to OpenBet as part of the deal.

Commenting on the deal OpenBet chief product officer Nikos Konstakis emphasised the value to clients of deeper market understanding.

“This deal marks another significant milestone into the development of our pricing and trading..

August 1, 2022

AGTech secures further terminal tenders in China

Beijing AGTech GOT Technology, the Chinese arm of lottery solutions platform AGTech Holdings, has secured a series of tenders to provide more sports lottery terminals across the country.

AGTech GOT will supply terminals in the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region and Mongolia Autonomous Region of the People’s Republic of China, as well as in the Yunnan, Sichuan, Jiangsu, Hainan and Hubei provinces.

The latest tender wins expand AGTech GOT’s presence in the Chinese sports lottery terminal market, with the business having in place a wide range of similar deals.

These included agreements signed in January this year to supply technology and services in the Gansu, Zhejiang, Henan, Hebei and Jiangsu provinces, as well as the Shanghai and Tianjin municipalities.

“AGTech GOT has won many tenders in various provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions across China, which reaffirmed the hardware division’s continued dedication to and leading position in China’s sports lottery terminal marke..

July 29, 2022

Churchill Downs considers turning TwinSpires into B2B product

US gaming business Churchill Downs Incorporated (CDI) has announced plans for its online betting platform TwinSpires to offer B2B support for sportsbooks wishing to add a horse racing vertical, following the Q1 announcement that CDI would be exiting the online sports betting and casino businesses.

CDI chief executive officer William Carstanjen made the announcement in the company’s Q2 earnings call to investors where he outlined the TwinSpires B2B horse racing strategy.

“We intend to be a leading distributor of horse racing content, either directly to convert to customers of TwinSpires or under a B2B model that enables the online distribution of horse racing content to millions of new customers who have opened online sports wagering accounts.”

Carstanjen pointed to the retail horse racing operator’s extensive institutional knowledge of pari-mutuel wagering as a key USP for the business:

“Given our expertise and extensive knowledge of pari-mutuel wagering on horse racing, we have th..

July 27, 2022

Kambi pivots to modularisation as DraftKings exit continues to hit Q2 revenue

Betting supplier Kambi will increase its focus on modularised products rather than its full sportsbook solution – and may seek to make acquisitions – after key client DraftKings’ migration away from Kambi’s sportsbook continued to affect its earnings in Q2.

Revenue for the supplier for the quarter ended 30 June was down by 18.8% from Q2 of 2022 to €34.7m (£29.2m/$35.2m), a change the business said was due to the migration of US betting giant DraftKings away from Kambi’s platform and onto the SBTech product it acquired in 2020.

While DraftKings has already completed its migration, two other key clients are also taking steps to move away from its platform in favour of in-house options. Unibet operator Kindred has been building its own platform, set to launch when its partnership with Kambi ends in 2024.

If DraftKings – which produced 25% of Kambi’s revenue the prior year – is excluded, revenue was up 16% from Q2 of 2021.

Penn National gaming, meanwhile, acquired theScore last year, ..

July 26, 2022

Comtrade pens platform supplier deal with Stanleybet Romania

Gaming software supplier Comtrade Gaming has announced a new platform deal with online sports betting and gaming operator Stanleybet Romania.

Under the terms of the agreement Comrade will supply its iCore igaming platform to the Bucharest-based business.

Comtrade chief commercial officer Steven Valentine explained that the iCore platform integrates a number of features, including “real-time bonusing, dynamic segmentation, real-time push messaging, and many more player engagement tools.”

“When someone decides to migrate their platform, they put a lot of trust of their existing business on you,” said Valentine.

“We have shown on many occasions that we are the smart choice for a growing operator. Having done many tier 1 migrations in the past, we have now made our igaming platform more accessible to small and mid-size operators who have outgrown their current solution.”

“With our flexible approach to individual client needs, we are a very reliable choice for operators looking to impr..

July 26, 2022

Comtrade pens platform supplier deal with Stanleybet Romania

Gaming software supplier Comtrade Gaming has announced a new platform deal with online sports betting and gaming operator Stanleybet Romania.

Under the terms of the agreement Comtrade will supply its iCore igaming platform to the Bucharest-based business.

Comtrade chief commercial officer Steven Valentine explained that the iCore platform integrates a number of features, including “real-time bonusing, dynamic segmentation, real-time push messaging, and many more player engagement tools.

“When someone decides to migrate their platform, they put a lot of trust of their existing business on you,” said Valentine.

“We have shown on many occasions that we are the smart choice for a growing operator. Having done many tier 1 migrations in the past, we have now made our igaming platform more accessible to small and mid-size operators who have outgrown their current solution.

“With our flexible approach to individual client needs, we are a very reliable choice for operators looking to impro..

July 25, 2022

DIY or third-party: the sportsbook technology debate

The debate over whether operators should build their own technology or use a third-party solution has raged for decades, but it appears to have grown more intense as the US market opens. However, as Daniel O’Boyle reports, it may not be a question with a clear answer

It’s said that if you want something done well, you should do it yourself.

That appears to be an adage many sports betting operators have taken to heart.

Hop on any earnings call for a US operator, and there will no doubt be plenty of mentions of “proprietary sportsbook technology”.

The demand among operators for in-house solutions is backed up by their money. In 2020, DraftKings merged with SBTech, valuing the supplier at $634.1m. Last year, Caesars acquired William Hill for $3.7bn, mostly for its proprietary technology.

Meanwhile, theScore announced a long process to build its own sportsbook technology, which surely played a major part in Penn National Gaming acquiring it for $2bn.

“I don’t want to get distracted b..

July 25, 2022

DIY or third-party: the sportsbook technology debate

The debate over whether operators should build their own technology or use a third-party solution has raged for decades, but it appears to have grown more intense as the US market opens. However, as Daniel O’Boyle reports, it may not be a question with a clear answer

It’s said that if you want something done well, you should do it yourself.

That appears to be an adage many sports betting operators have taken to heart.

Hop on any earnings call for a US operator, and there will no doubt be plenty of mentions of “proprietary sportsbook technology”.

The demand among operators for in-house solutions is backed up by their money. In 2020, DraftKings merged with SBTech, valuing the supplier at $634.1m. Last year, Caesars acquired William Hill for $3.7bn, mostly for its proprietary technology.

Meanwhile, theScore announced a long process to build its own sportsbook technology, which surely played a major part in Penn National Gaming acquiring it for $2bn.

“I don’t want to get distracted b..

July 20, 2022

Aspire prepares for a new era

Aspire Global has divested its B2C operations to become a focused B2B business which in turn becomes part of a formidable proposition now NeoGames has acquired the supplier. But that B2C heritage will be vital to ensuring it continues its rapid growth trajectory, says CEO Tsachi Maimon.

Tsachi Maimon was named chief executive of Aspire Global in 2013. At that time the business brought in about €25m (£21.3m) annually. Eight years later, it posted revenue of €213.3m for 2021.

When Maimon joined, he oversaw a B2C business which contributed the bulk of revenue. By the end of 2021, the company had sold off all its consumer-facing operations, which were snapped up by Esports Technologies in a €65.5m deal.

On 17 June, Aspire was then acquired by an even larger entity, with ilottery specialist NeoGames completing a public offer to take charge of the company for €402.3m.

This, Maimon says, is the result of “a series of carefully considered business decisions” that has ultimately taken it..

July 15, 2022

Genius to distribute NCAA data in new partnership with Scorebreak

Sports technology business ScoreBreak has announced a new partnership with data distributor Genius Sports covering collegiate sports data, soon after the business became the official supplier of data from the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA).

ScoreBreak operates a video synchronisation engine that will work in tandem with Genius’s official statistics, allowing customers to access the stat-driven video content from any internet-connected device.

ScoreBreak COO Wes Sims emphasised the value the service would provide to sports professionals in a statement.

“As we continue to introduce ScoreBreak to new and exciting sports verticals, we look to identify signature partnerships to help push our product to the next level,” said Sims.

“We believe that matching ScoreBreak with Genius Sports will provide an unmatched experience for coaches and athletes, putting us on a path to equip every athletic program in the country with the tools and insights they need to win in real-time..

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Tag: Product & technology