SPONSORED EDITORIAL
BETTING PROMOTION
SPORTS BETTING
The path of
evolution
Richard Hogg, of Betting Promotion,
talks to eGaming Review about the
developments within the online sports
betting industry
W
ith the introduction of betting exchanges and
technological advancements such as mobile gaming,
online sports betting has seen a number of changes and
increased competition over the years. In line with these developments,
the sector is expanding and promises a bright future ahead.
eGaming Review (eGR): How has the online sports betting sector
evolved over the past few years?
Richard Hogg (RH): The most noticeable changes in online sports
betting over the years are those brought about by the introduction
of betting exchanges back in early 2000. At the time, sports betting
focused on traditional, straightforward win, draw, each-way markets
on the more popular events such as soccer and horseracing but when
the betting exchanges came into play they opened up many more
events and markets to the customers. The bookmakers then had to
start competing on a number of fronts; on markets and events and
on the margins they were operating to. The exchanges also offered
in-play pretty much from the off, again something the bookmakers
had to invest in providing. They also had to be a bit more creative
around their marketing and PR strategy to put their online products
in the forefront of customers’ minds.
eGR: How has the consumer changed and what do they want from
an online sportsbook in 2014?
RH: They want access over every available channel which will include
mobile and tablet, access to data in terms of results and statistics
Richard Hogg is CMO of Betting Promotion
and has been involved in online gaming since
1999. In a career that has spanned three
decades across three continents, he has
overseen the introduction of a number of
brands and products in various markets.
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and access to pictures to see their events if they happen to be away
from home. The consumer requires fast and seamless deposits and
withdrawals and ideally a very good CRM which is balanced between
giving the customer what they need without being too intrusive.
eGR: What has the impact of in-play had on the business and how
do operators need to adapt to this new market?
RH: In-play has introduced an increased turnover and revenue,
so operators need to ensure they have improved reliable data in
order to deliver markets and events. They must also have reliable
suspension and resulting during in-play to enable the players to keep
turning over their balances. The resources have gone from being able
to copy and replicate other sources of data and markets to having
to do a lot themselves or import reliable feeds for these markets, so
they’ve got to be more efficient in the way they operate. They tend
to employ quantitative analysts as opposed to traditional traders
because the volume is so wide that they’re having to ensure their
customers aren’t getting information before they do. It’s become a
much more technology and mathematical-based business.
eGR: What impact has mobile had on the sports betting sector and
what challenges and opportunities does this present?
RH: Mobile is huge, but it’s still not the finished article; native or HTML
for instance. There are also problems with connectivity and unless
you are on a Wi-Fi connection, the data connections are still not good
enough. However, over 50% on average of bookmakers’ revenues
come through a mobile device. Mobile doesn’t need to be separated
as another product which a lot of people did in the early days, it is a
requirement of every operator and all consumers would expect it.
eGR: What do you predict for the online sports betting sector over the
next 12 months?
RH: I predict there’s going to be further growth and regulated
markets, including in the UK, but how that changes bookmakers’
operations is hard to predict. Some of the charges that governments
or local gaming regulators are putting on the bookmakers are
making them unprofitable, but there will be more regulation
that will allow for further growth in regulated markets from local
operators. It’s going to be interesting to see how the exchanges
react to the regulation and the sports betting products offered by
the bookmakers. Hopefully new entrants to the market will start to
understand that to be successful you have to attract the right type of
turnover. It is easy to attract huge turnover if your prices are wrong.
So copying/scalping/aggregating odds from other bookmakers is a
sure way to the poor house. You should be putting odds out that are
competitive but also attract lots of small bets. Betting Promotion’s
clients are making profits of up to 30% on their turnover thus far
since the start of the football season. Even those in Asia are seeing
10% plus margins. We are proud of delivering our own content.
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