“ Microinfluencers are cost-effective because they are often undervalued or overlooked by established wagering operators ”
igamingbusiness . com
FINANCE
WATERHOUSE VC : CRYPTO WAGERING
In his latest column , Tom Waterhouse of Waterhouse VC dissects the crypto wagering opportunity and discusses how crypto operators can stand out in a fast-paced , competitive market
Tom Waterhouse
“ Microinfluencers are cost-effective because they are often undervalued or overlooked by established wagering operators ”
S teve
Jobs famously said “ innovation is the ability to see change as an opportunity , not a threat .” The wagering industry has long been at the forefront of innovation across several areas , including user experience ( UX ), marketing and payments . Online crypto operators ( such as Sportsbet . io and Stake . com ), which have a similar UX to online fiat operators like FanDuel and DraftKings , are already recording extraordinary turnover and leading innovation in both marketing and payments .
As at May 2022 , Sportsbet . io recorded US $ 2.7bn (£ 2.12bn /€ 2.51bn ) of turnover per month and we gather that it has likely grown . To put that in perspective , in 2023 , Australia ’ s largest operator averaged US $ 1bn of turnover per month and has around 45 % market share in the country .
INFLUENCER MARKETING
Stake and other large crypto wagering operators dominate streaming through partnerships with celebrities like Drake . Rather than partnering with celebrity streamers , emerging operators like Shuffle . com identify influencers who have relatively small but dedicated followings of around 1,000 to 10,000 true fans . Micro-influencers are costeffective because they are often undervalued or overlooked by established wagering operators .
Dedicated fans do not just engage with influencers by “ liking ” their posts or watching a
30-minute betting stream . Instead , they interact directly with the influencers in group chats , communicating around the clock . An influencer who has 10,000 “ dedicated fans ” could generate far more in revenue for every dollar spent than an influencer with 1,000,000 followers who is less engaged .
SHUFFLING
Launched in 2023 , Shuffle is one of several new crypto wagering businesses at the forefront of marketing , customer retention and payments innovation . It has rapidly expanded and has already facilitated more than US $ 6bn in bets . Led by Noah Dummett , Shuffle ’ s management team draws on expertise developed in marketing roles rather than wagering industry experience . Dummett , a 24-year-old crypto native from Australia , was an early employee at some of the fastest-growing crypto exchanges , such as Bitmex . He believes crypto wagering operators can be just as large and profitable as the exchanges he worked at previously .
Dummett believes Shuffle can become the world ’ s largest crypto wagering operator and that achieving this will take bold bets executed by a young ,
74 • ISSUE 136 • iGB L ! VE 2024