10 reasons an external partner is the key to a bright future for bookmakers

Focus Gaming News sat down with Mateo Lenoble, Sportradar’s Regional Sales Director – Latam, to ask how he thinks the industry can become more resilient after the impact of Covid, and how organisations can safeguard their futures and stay ahead of the competition. 

Exclusive content.- Some bookmakers are wary about working with external partners. They worry about diluting their brand personality. About becoming overly reliant. Or losing control of their operation.

But evidence shows that their worries are misplaced. 

We talked to Mateo Lenoble who shed light on some of the sports betting industry’s most pressing topics. And when it comes to bookmarks, he didn’t give us an answer: he gave us ten.  

1. Go further with your customer relationship management (CRM)

Today’s sports fans expect tailored and accessible content – and their expectations are sure to increase. The trouble is that to deliver it, you need data that delves deeper into your customers’ age, gender or income. You need a tailored CRM approach.

But building one takes time and money. 

Hand it over to an external partner and you get data that goes further into your customers’ interests and intents. You can use it to interact with punters more closely and create a personalised experience – building brand loyalty as you go. 

2. Keep your finger on the pulse with as-it-happens-data

Collecting sports data is a mammoth task. One that’s best dealt with by someone external (to give you a sense of the scale, Sportradar alone has more than 7,000 data journalists working worldwide.)

Plus, an external supplier will always be looking to improve their data’s coverage and speed. For example, with Sportradar’s data collection services there’s a less than one second delay between a live event happening and us recording it – making it much easier to clamp down on courtsiding (where someone transmits real-time information from a sports event so that a fraudster can place a guaranteed winning bet before the bookmaker reacts).

3. Wave goodbye to resourcing bottlenecks

It can take up to nine months to hire and train a new engineer. And this kind of a delay can seriously stall innovation and growth. Bring in external expertise and you’re able to keep things moving. 

4. Speed up customer verification processes

Each year the legislation gets stricter. The fines get steeper and the penalties tougher. But customer verification, although essential, is a time consuming process to take in house. 

Work with an external partner like Sportradar and you’re able to integrate Know Your Customer (KYC) components into your CRM – protecting you and your customers from money laundering in the process. 

5. Capture and keep your audience’s attention

In today’s ultra-competitive marketplace, engaging your audience gets harder each year. 

But with a programmatic marketing service, like Sportradar’s ad:s, you can create hyper-targeted marketing that attracts punters and keeps them coming back. 

They see relevant content. You see sales increases of up to 10%, and a return of between five and eight times on your marketing spend. 

6. Create a flawless customer journey

A smooth customer journey is critical to a bookmaker’s survival. That’s according to 83% of bookmakers who took part in our research. 

But building a betting platform calls for big budgets and serious expertise. Tackling it in house often stretches timelines – and delays the launch. 

Because they can take an off-the-shelf product and tailor it, using an external partner cuts the turnaround time. And you get the flexibility to choose whether you want to tweak your current set-up or build something new from scratch.

7. Bring the latest thinking and tech trends into your business 

External partners bring with them valuable knowledge about regions, channels, player profiling, and more. They also bring the latest tech, honed to perfection based on feedback from other bookmakers. So you can be sure you’re getting the very best solution going. 

8. Get flexible with trading support 

If you don’t want large teams across every sport, using a partner for trading support is a cost-effective choice. It also gives you the flexibility to shrink and grow your numbers whenever you need to – just like lots of bookmakers did at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic. 

9. Cope with increasing content 

Websites and apps offer millions of betting opportunities every day. Given the rate sportsbooks are growing, that number’s going to keep increasing.

Take, for example, Sportradar’s Pre-Match Odds Service. It registered an 84% increase in 2020 despite many sports rights-holders having to pause or cancel their competitions. Sudden increases like these have the potential to push a lot of bookmakers over the edge because they don’t have the capacity in house. 

10. Control your own destiny 

Working with a trading and risk management partner gives you the flexibility, control and resources to refine what you do and find your competitive edge. 

Helping you adapt to tomorrow

External partners are well aware of the reservations bookmakers feel about working with them – so they’re getting more flexible as a result. 

And with providers like Sportradar offering targeted and customisable solutions, there are fewer reasons than ever to go it alone.