Executive summary
Meanwhile, the regulatory environment for digital gaming remains challenging in many markets.
The move by many EU countries away from a dot.com model to a dot.country one and have in some
instances received criticism due to their prohibitive tax rates, limited product ranges and
burdensome registration processes. These requirements increase costs and slow market access.
In summary, the trends and challenges identified throughout this report that are having the greatest
effect on digital sportsbook operators include:
The increase in dot.country versus dot.com sites against a backdrop of increasing regulation that
has stymied growth potential in some markets.
Operators seeking growth through M&A activity in order to reach new geographical markets and
customers. More consolidation is expected in the industry which will end being dominated by a
number of large operators and smaller niche ones.
For operators, understanding the strengths of the software and platform providers in the industry is
critical for their future and existing business success.
The growing recognition that digital customers are not that loyal to particular brand and digital
operators therefore have to work harder than ever before to succeed.
The growth in mobile has led to a more holistic omni-channel approach by some operators,
which no longer gauge customers based on the device or platform they use or access.
Features such as in-play betting and cash out features are becoming standard so operators are
going to have to find new ways to innovate and engage with customers.
The market leaders at present either offer additional functionality or subtle differences in their
offerings, with more focus placed on personalisation and mobility.
The engagement, conversion and retention cycle must take centre stage and can no longer be the
domain of one department. Every contact opportunity with the customer is an engagement.
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Selected industry soundbites from the report:
Warren Murphy, chief executive, Sporting Index:
“There’s a lot of noise in the industry regarding the secrets of success, but in reality it comes down to
getting the basics right. Understanding your customers, and knowing what to do with the information
collected, is a first and vital step. However, there are many other factors to be successful in the digital
space. Offering the right product and pricing events correctly, offering relevant and motivating
promotions, having channel uptime and ensuring intuitive and quick buy processes, predicting
customer behaviour and responding to it, service excellence, personalisation and content relevancy
are some of the key ingredients. The leaders do them better than the followers.”
Nick Zajdel, director of commercial operations, Ladbrokes:
“We live in an age of consumer choice, they can bet anywhere. Knowing more about when and where
a customer comes in to contact with our brand, will enable us to relevantly communicate with them at
their convenience. Additionally, understanding our customers channel behaviour is invaluable. If we
have a view of customer activity across channel, we can better serve them in other channels. We can
personalise the experience, offers and markets, e.g. if they only bet on horses and lotto, we offer them
upcoming events or results based on their activity.”
Steve Birch, head of commercial, Sky Betting and Gaming:
“We have spent a lot of time increasing our access to customer research and analytical insight and this
informs everything we do and helps us make factual decisions. We do a lot of digging into why what
we are seeing is happening at all levels of the team. Segmentation is also important for our business
Digital Sports Betting 7