Ahead of exhibiting at this year’s Betting on Sports event, Valentyn Kyrylenko, VP of Business Development at Betinvest discusses the importance of understanding local markets, the need for proactive responsibility and why AI is the next big tech trend for the sector.
What can visitors to Betting on Sports expect to see from BetInvest?
This year we’ll be visiting at least five large-scale events and we’ve got products, solutions and services that mean guaranteed high income for our clients and the kinds of advantages, bonuses that players want.
Our core strength is in Sportsbook products. We’re offering premium Sportsbook content adapted to client needs and expectations. What that means in concrete terms is more than 30,000 separate events each month and up to 420 markets in a single game. We have a team of 300 bookmakers putting together the best deals you’ll find anywhere. When you figure that working together with our data feed that has no downtime – zero – then you understand that our operators know what it’s like to always be ahead of the competition.
We’ve also got some exclusive offers prepared specially for the Betting on Sports event – a loyalty program and some outstanding commercial offers.
Understanding player behaviour is a key part of your Sportsbook offer; how does BetInvest approach this aspect of gaming?
Understanding player behaviour is something we pay a lot of attention to because it helps our clients manage risks efficiently which helps them control their income and even increase it when they know how to properly respond to player behaviour. The way we implement this is through the CRM system we developed in house – Octopus. It’s designed specifically for the gambling and gaming industry, boasts some powerful proprietary tools and works on a multi-channel platform. Octopus CRM helps clients find hidden value in their users.
But any system is only as good as the data you put into it and so our bookmakers work hard to constantly analyze and understand the specifics of local markets as well as players’ broader, national characteristics.
As an international provider, how do you ensure the focus on each local market where you work?
With each client we form a support team that deeply immerses itself in client business. They examine market specifics, things like taxations systems, regulatory requirements and user personal data placement. Our bookmakers know the local markets and their players well. Our Sportsbook puts that information in your hands, laying out the coefficients in three distinct formats: Asian, American and European.
You’ve mentioned before that you consider AI to be the next big thing. Do you still stand by this? What big reveals in the realm do you think the audience at Betting on Sport can expect to see?
We hold to that, absolutely. With our market analysis and the pace of technological development, we’re confident that machine learning and AI are set to be an integral part of the gaming industry. We’ve already looked into it and formed a vision to which parts of BetInvest this technology will be essential. Right now, at least in part, AI is at work in our CRM-system. The system predicts player behaviour and determines at which point of the path an operator needs to intervene and provide some additional opportunities to be sure we end with a positive user experience.
In other products and services in our line, AI and machine learning regularly play a role in our strategic development planning.
The capacity of mobile technology, especially in sports betting, continues to grow day-by-day. How do you see this progressing for both online and land-based sides of the gaming industry?
The online industry is developing very rapidly. With mobile technologies, the boundaries for sports betting have been blurred for a long time already. The industry is becoming more global every day, making the potential for online betting sector practically limitless. Where things go from here depend, really, only on the limits of our imaginations and the desire of providers to introduce even more innovation in the products they develop.
Yet, despite these developments, there are millions of players who still prefer land-based bookmakers. For some, the factors of a particular atmosphere or personal communication are really important. A lot depends on the country a player lives in, its culture, its legislation and level of economic development. There are places where online betting still can’t compete with land-based because of legal limitations.
At BetInvest, we’re working to respond actively to the development of modern technologies by implementing innovative solutions. We’re motivated by one factor: our customers’ needs. This year we’re adding even greater functionality to our mobile version of Sportsbook. We evaluated player usage, drew some conclusions, and then surveyed them directly. We think the result speaks for itself: an exceptional Sportsbook mobile experience.
Sports Betting is a hot topic in North America, where do you see the big opportunities in that market?
This October we’ll be at the G2E in Las Vegas putting our nineteen years of professional experience in the industry and our ecosystem of sports betting products and services before American operators and casinos. We’re coming to Las Vegas loaded with some special commercial offers and promotional conditions for cooperation. We want North American partners and so we’re bringing discounts, cost-free connections and a pricing structure optimized to draw new clients.
We already have active representation in the US in the locations where sports betting is legal; we’re already engaged in negotiations with potential partners and clients. The next step will be opening a full-service office, and we hope to be able to give you more detailed information on that soon.
BetInvest will be showcasing their Sportsbook products alongside some exclusive offers on Stand No K1 at Betting on Sports (Olympia London, 17-21 September, 2018)
