SPONSORED EDITORIAL
KAMBI
SPORTS BETTING
The future’s
in-play
Kristian Nylen of Kambi Sports Solutions
discusses the firm’s innovative sportsbook
and the challenges in sports betting today
W
ith the rise of in-play and mobile betting, the sports
betting landscape is evolving dramatically. Kambi has
strived to create a sportbook that is competitive and
attractive in the changing environment. We catch up with Kristian
Nylen of Kambi to discuss their offerings and where they see
sports betting heading in the near future
eGaming Review (eGR): What are some of the main challenges in
the current sports betting environment?
With a focus steered more towards in-play, operators have seen
a massive increase in their costs for producing a competitive
sportsbook. Operators now need more traders, larger investments
in front and back-end technology and sports modelling to support
the growing in-play offering while maintaining a healthy margin and
a qualitative offer. They also need new tools for risk management
and customer intelligence.
eGR: In what ways has Kambi developed a competitive and
attractive sportsbook solution? What are some ways that it stands
out from the competition?
An obvious challenge to all firms is how to market their mobile
product, and present this huge offer in a user-friendly way on a
small screen. Kambi meets this challenge by aiming for a seamless
experience between platforms where consumers will be familiar
with our layouts and concepts. Today players expect to be able to
access the sportsbook regardless of device. The Kambi Sportsbook
delivers desktop, mobile and retail clients to the operators without
the need to source additional solutions for some channels. Kambi is
‘by players for players’, the product is developed both technically and
operationally by keeping the user experience in mind throughout.
Kristian Nylen, CEO of Kambi Sports Solutions,
started in the gaming industry with Unibet in
2000 as an odds compiler. In late 2009 he
launched Kambi as a special project for Unibet,
and he became CEO when Kambi was set up to
operate as an independent company in 2010.
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eGR: How do your solutions strive to meet end-user expectations?
Players expect internet-based services to operate 24/7, load quickly,
and be highly responsive. The Kambi Sportsbook supports some of
the larger betting sites in the industry, allowing Kambi to invest in
the infrastructure. The Kambi platform has been available on internet
since 1998, and is continuously evolving to meet the demands from
the players, whose needs are at the forefront of all development.
Mobile play is essential for in-play betting, and the growth of mobile
data networks over recent years has allowed this product to be easily
accessible for the end user, enhancing their betting experience.
eGR: How has the growth of in-play revolutionised sports betting
products? How has Kambi developed its solution to meet this
growing demand?
In-play has completely changed sports betting, introducing the
potential for a 24-hour fast moving product. Kambi’s exciting
solution focuses on quality markets that give the customer ‘action
bet’ opportunities whi ch will be paid out as soon as the result is
known, across a range of sports.
Operators have had to take on huge costs from third-party
suppliers in order to get score feeds with minimum delay straight
into their back offices.
These added costs, increased complexity, and time to market
make it near impossible for most operators to keep up and deliver a
competitive product. The only viable alternative is then to outsource
the full solution to B2B companies like Kambi.
eGR: How do you see sports betting developing over the next
year? What new developments can we expect to see from Kambi?
This is an exciting time for Kambi, with lots of developments on
the horizon. The amount of live events and bet offers has been the
key differentiator for the past few years. Kambi expects continued
growth here, but also believes there will be an increasing focus on
the quality of in-play offerings. The huge offerings will start serving
as a library from which a relevant and personalised offer to each
and every individual can be provided; this is absolutely key in
the mobile channel. The overall user experience, design (mobile,
web and self-service terminals), relevance of the offering, and
availability (short live delays/low suspension rates), will need to
allow the end-user to bet whenever and on whatever they want.
Live streaming will continue to be an important driver. Kambi
expects to drive innovation in this area towards more creative
solutions that better marry betting with live broadcasts so that
operators can fully capitalise on sports rights.
In-play is about instant action, quick decisions and quick payouts. Bet offers such as next point in tennis, or next corner in
football exemplify this and it is on these types of bets that Kambi
believes more and more bets will come. Many end-users will use
in-play more or less as a casino.
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