Chapter 1 – Introduction
the heart of everything we do, and we are looking forward to further building on these with Magnus
in the months ahead.
“Mobile continues to be a huge area of focus and is now the main way customers interact with us.
In the last year we have launched two major mobile upgrades to ensure we are optimising how
customers interact with us across a variety of mobile devices.
“Another highlight was the performance of our B2B business, Sporting Solutions, which continued
to grow rapidly in the past year. We have added new partners at an excellent rate as well continued
to develop the services of our existing partners. This is testament to the quality of the product and
service we provide, and the skills that underpin it.”
Steve Birch, head of Commercial, Sky Betting and Gaming:
“The biggest single change has been the launch of Cash Out. Since launch, we have seen a big drive
in engagement from our customers. We were behind some competitors going to market with Cash
Out but we believe the time and effort we have spent working on the usability and experience has
definitely given us an edge that we are still seeing almost 12 months after launch. Cash Out has
certainly changed how lots of customers use our site, increasing dwell times and engagement – it has
created opportunities and also challenges (particularly for our tech teams!).
“We are also seeing a lot of growth from Horse Racing, which is a continuing trend we have seen since
we added in an ‘always on’ offer strategy and started to spend more heavily in marketing support.
Although maybe not a fast growing sport in the industry, we feel we offer customers something
slightly different compared to our competitors.”
Olivia Gillibrand, head of marketing, OpenBet:
“Multi-channel delivery has been a key focus for many suppliers throughout 2015. However, we see
that this approach can be progressed further. Omni-channel is the result.
“Rather than separating out channels and focussing on each separately, omni-channel is about
seeing all the channels as one complete entity. Starting with this holistic approach enables operators
to create an offering that draws the best of their proposition across all points of contact with the
customer, including mobile, desktop and land-based.
“Operators have to meet existing and potential customers in the place that suits them and increasingly
this can be anywhere and on multiple devices, whether that’s on the move, at their desk or at home.
This is the age of the consumer and it is crucial to reach those new places and players.
“Meeting the high and varying expectations of players across mobile, online and retail, while keeping
a consistent brand identity throughout is now one of the biggest challenges facing an operator. The
trend to more functionality on more devices will continue, and our aim is to bring those together with
the omni-channel experience.”
Carsten Koerl, founder and chief executive, Sportradar:
“We at Sportradar pride ourselves on having an enviable team of employees, primed to see
developments or anticipate evolution in the global betting market. This year we have seen a few.
ESports have really entered the consciousness across a broad range of bettors and operators.
Thankfully, Sportradar saw this development coming and already have a full suite of eSports betting
products and services ready for operators to pick up and run with.
24 Digital Sports Betting