iGaming Business magazine In-Play Focus 2018 | Page 13

In-Play Focus 2018
MIND THE GAP
Forget reinventing the wheel, operators should instead focus on making markets
continually available for betting, rather than delayed or suspended, if they are to capitalise on
most consumers’ instinct-driven betting preferences, urges Kambi’s Simon Noy
Looking back over the past 20 years, you can
probably count on two fingers the number of
real, game-changing innovations within in-play
sports betting. At the turn of the century we saw
the launch of the Betfair exchange, which
fundamentally changed the way markets were
priced and traded. Then, about 15 years ago,
we were the first to release cash-out, which is now
an integral part of the in-play betting experience.
No other product release has come close to having
the same long-lasting impact.
What these innovations, or lack of others,
illustrate is that 1) true groundbreaking innovation
is very hard to come by, and 2) sports bettors like to
keep things simple – they prefer straightforward,
relevant markets over complex bet offers.
To underline this second point, when reviewing
the data across the Kambi network, we can see
approximately 75% of all live turnover is derived
from the same five core markets. This shows that,
despite the explosion in the number of live markets
made available for in-play, players have tended to
remain loyal to their habitual betting choices.
It is for this reason that operators and suppliers
must prioritise the delivery of their core in-play
markets, as failure to do so will negatively affect
the bulk of players. A lot of the work we do at
Kambi is about ensuring our live product is the
best that it can be. We understand in-play betting
is often an instinctive action, particularly with
game situations and live odds changing from one
moment to the next. As such, it is imperative that
iGamingBusiness | Issue 109 | March/April 2018 | 41