“Our new multi-channel platform makes us a one-stop betting shop at ICE”

(Exclusive interview).- Lorenzo Caci, Director Business Development and Strategic Partnerships at Sportradar, talked with Focus Gaming News about ICE London 2020.

Sports betting is gaining momentum all over the world, and ICE London is one of the best events in which companies can demonstrate their power.

Lorenzo Caci, Director Business Development and Strategic Partnerships at Sportradar, talked with Focus Gaming News about this year’s edition, as well as the company’s plans for 2020.

What does ICE 2020 mean for Sportradar?

It’s huge. We’ve exhibited here for the last 14 years and each year it gets bigger and better. As the industry comes together it’s important that we’re here as the market leader. 

ICE London provides a great shop window for our products and services. It’s a chance for us to meet face-to-face with clients and operators from across the world and demonstrate how we can support them in growing their businesses. 

This year it’ll be interesting to hear how our clients are approaching operations in new and emerging markets, like LatAm, and discuss how our tools and knowledge can help them navigate these regions and find unique ways to gain an edge over the competition in a way that suits them.

What will the company bring to London as it will meet with most players within the industry?

This year we are excited to show our new multi-channel platform, which, together with our betting solutions, makes us a one-stop betting shop at ICE London 2020. Part of the reason for acquiring the platform last year was so that we could help bookmakers across the world to supply and license in markets globally. This is important as more legal betting markets, such as the US and LatAm, open, and other influences, including legislation and technology, continue to make an impact on the industry as a whole. Coupled with our risk management and trading solution, Managed Trading Services (MTS) and any of our betting, gaming or streaming tools, operators have a complete, flexible solution which they can tailor to enhance their sportsbook, or build a successful one from scratch. We can also assist bookmakers in being able to better target and retain audiences using our marketing and sponsorship solution, ad:s, which, like all of our products and services, utilises our comprehensive data to enable our clients to gain an edge over the competition.

Starting with ICE London, we want to continue to showcase our market-leading solutions to current and prospective clients worldwide.

The sports betting industry continues to transform and expand worldwide, with the spotlight set in the US right now, what are the main challenges for Sportradar in such a key moment like this?

The main challenge is being able to help ensure bookmakers and associated providers have all the tools and information they need to be able to thrive in the US. With the states differing in terms of what betting provisions they allow, this can be a challenge. But with our new platform, Managed Trading Services (MTS), and 360-degree betting services, operators have access to every tool required to create a truly successful sportsbook, regardless of whether they have an existing offering or are looking to build one from scratch. This combined with our industry relationships and global expertise is what we want to use to ensure bookmakers, no matter what they’re size or where they’re looking to operate, can both get through the challenges and leverage from the opportunities on offer in the US, and other similar emerging markets, like LatAm for that matter.  

The Latin American market seemed to have been moving closer to regulation but the process has stalled in some countries, what is your assessment of that particular market?

LatAm has shown positive signs in terms of moving more towards legalised betting, and this is a good thing as the controls and licenses this puts in place make it easier to ensure black market activity is reduced. Some are still nervous about this and, like the US, the market seems to be volatile with various legislations being introduced and amended at different stages. Whilst this presents challenges, they key is being armed with the right information and tools to be able to leverage from the opportunities this also presents. This is where our experts and solutions can help. We continue to work with a lot of clients in LatAm to help them localise, in terms of understanding the regions and their legislation, audiences and trends.

We continue to work with a lot of clients in LatAm to help them localise.

But we also want to help them innovate, in terms of looking forward to the future and investing in the technology that is shaping the industry. While retail betting is still popular in LatAm, there’s no reason why mobile and online betting won’t become popular amongst next generations of burgeoning sports fans that exist in the region, as it has in other parts of the world. And, as this has proven, this is a key tool for increasing engagement. This is why flexibility in gaming solutions is so key so that operators can easily integrate the services they need or build an offering that suits the markets where they want to operate. 

What are your plans for 2020?

Starting with ICE London, we want to continue to showcase our market-leading solutions to current and prospective clients worldwide. Our solutions are updated regularly so they meet client needs and so that we can ensure we remain at the forefront of technology. Ultimately, this is what enables them to build the most effective solutions. Again the three key products for us this year is our platform, MTS and ad:s. Each of these can be used and easily integrated with existing solutions and our full range of betting services, enabling sportsbooks to, again, supply and license in markets across the world. So if operators are looking to completely enhance their offering with an all-new platform, need additional tools for engagement, require support with their trading or risk management or want to find more direct ways to promote their sportsbook through their marketing and sponsorship efforts, our goal is to provide operators worldwide with the best solutions to achieve this and see more results.