TURNING FANTASY
INTO REALITY
MONTH
KEITH MCDONNELL
BOARD MEMBER AT
TOTELFOOTBALL
huge and, with the rise in
popularity of social gaming
on Facebook online and
on mobile, traditional
real-money operators
are increasingly keen to
use fantasy to attract an
entirely new audience. In
regulated markets such
as the UK, for example,
QUOTE OF
THE MONTH
“For us, simplicity is
the most important
thing. It’s about
ease of use of every
product, speed and
listening to your
customers”
Victor Chandler, chairman at BetVictor.
Read our interview on p.57
Keith McDonnell, board
member at Totelfootball,
outlines why fantasy sports
betting is set to become
big business
As legendary Liverpool
Football Club manager
Bill Shankly famously said:
“Some people believe
football is a matter of life
and death. I can assure
you it is much, much more
important than that”.
And for the millions of
office workers who play
Fantasy Football it is just
that. Topping their private
company league at the end
of the season is arguably
more important than which
professional team ends up
lifting the coveted trophy.
Fantasy sports betting
is an area that has only
recently been exploited with
just two million of a total
of around 5.5m to 7.5m UK
players ever having placed a
real-money bet.
But the appetite for
this type of product is
"A number
of innovative
products
including
Totelfootball
have recently
begun to whet
the appetite
of fantasy
players"
a number of innovative
products including
Totelfootball have recently
begun to whet the appetite
of fantasy players who
increasingly want to put
their money where their
mouth is.
Whereas traditional
fantasy game play is not
regulated under gambling
legislation, betting on
fantasy is and it is this type
of game, under appropriate
licensing, where we see the
real upside for operators.
We believe the fantasy
channel will be hugely
pro?table in its own right
for partner operators given
the high margins associated
with the product .
In the past, many fantasy
products have struggled
due to the duration of the
game with players losing
interest as they fall down
the leaderboard. This has
been addressed, to an
extent, with weekly and
monthly prizes.
We see the potential
as enormous. Liquidity
will breed liquidity and,
as players see others
scooping six-?gure
prizes and games that
are inherently enjoyable,
player numbers and spend
will increase.
Fantasy appeals to
anyone who loves sport,
likes a rush of adrenalin
with a small wager and
enjoys the process of being
a football manager for the
season. Anyone can play
and it’s incredible how much
more entertaining games
become when one of your
players is involved.
HENRIK
TJÄRNSTRÖM
DANIEL
ESKOLA
BRITT
BOESKOV
MARTIN
STALROS
ROBERT
JENKINS
CEO
Tjärnström became CEO in
2010 having previously served
as chief financial officer and
deputy CEO since April 2008.
Prior to taking up executive
roles, he was a member of the
board of directors from 2003
to 2008 and under his watch so
far this year, Unibet has seen H1
profits rise 7% to £29.1m.
Head of gaming
Bringing experience from
his previous work at
Entraction as head of product
management and then head
of poker, Eskola was hired
by Unibet in June 2010.
Originally taking up the role
as head of poker, he was
promoted to head of gaming
in October 2011.
Chief operating officer
Boeskov joined Unibet in 2005
as business development
manager, before being named
chief operating officer in
September 2009. During
that time Boeskov also held
a number of roles at Unibet
including head of acquisition
services and head of market
communication services.
Head of poker
Stalros, originally hired
as operations/business
development manager for
Unibet, recently replaced
Steve Cutler as head of poker
at the Swedish-listed operator
having previously worked at
Ladbrokes. The operational
part was already passed over
to Stalros six months ago.
Head of mobile
Having previously held the
role of acting head of mobile
at Manchester United, Jenkins
joined Unibet in September 2011
to lead its mobile and multichannel strategy. Unibet has
seen its mobile offering boost
revenues and is now over 19%
of the gross winnings revenue
compared to 8% in Q2 2012.
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