Examining the future evolution of BetBuilders ahead of the World Cup, Tamazi Gambashidze, Head of Sports Brand Experience Department at Adjarabet, revealed two key factors that can evolve the product to a new audience.
Gambashidze also outlined his belief that it is logical to increase margins a little when it comes to BetBuilders, as he spoke to iGaming Expert around sportsbook products on the big stage this summer.
iGaming Expert: Can you tell us more about how you believe the bet builder will evolve in the coming years?
Tamazi Gambashidze: AI and personalisation will develop BetBuilders further. The more data we include will result in an increase in efficiency, as each player will have suggestions based on their playing history.
More sports and markets will be involved. In my region, BetBuilders are a pretty new feature, so not many players are using them, but by the end of the 2020s, potentially half of the players will bet via BetBuilder.
Also, I would love to see BetBuilders evolving in play, as in our experience, most players are placing bets on pre-match, but at the end of the day, it would bring more engagement for players.
Is it inevitable that operators have to increase the margins on BetBuilders in order to continue their attractiveness to players?
It is logical to increase margins slightly, as competition in BetBuilders is high. The correlation between markets is higher, and the whole logic depends on whether a single event and one action will happen, leading to the probability that the other action will happen being much higher.
Players see just simple odds, and from our experience, players do not understand why BetBuilder’s odds are lower than the standalone markets. In order not to get that reaction from players, bookies most of the time adjust margins for BetBuilders.
How much of a stage will the World Cup be for BetBuilders and sportsbook engagements?
The World Cup is the event every online gambling operator is waiting for, with activations such as free-to-play games and tournament brackets, so many products are dedicated to the World Cup, as it presents a perfect opportunity to test new features and new ideas.
Most of the markets are not combinable in a betslip, and matches are separate from each other (except the last matchday of the group stage), so BetBuilders are a perfect opportunity for multi-loving players to engage in single-game multi bets.
What type of role will second-screen engagement have on European fans during the World Cup?
The timing of games is pretty bad for European fans. Imagine having to bet at 2am or 4 or 5am, it would be a disaster. But due to the size of the event, I believe in play betting will still be popular.
Second screen engagement will boost some of the new markets for football, and micro betting, which is not as popular in Europe as it is in the US, should shine under second screen engagement during the World Cup.
What will be the key drivers in cross-selling sportsbook players to casino engagement during the World Cup?
The World Cup is a unique cross-sell moment. I remember in EURO 2024 when Georgia (my country) participated for the first time, we had a huge boost in multi-product users.
There is a difference between countries that are not participating in the World Cup and those that are involved.
For the debutants Cape Verde, Curaçao, Jordan, and Uzbekistan, in three of them, online betting is legal, so it will be a huge opportunity for operators in those three countries to cross-sell sportsbook players and attract users of other products.
Are there any key steps that operators can take to retain the attention of players after the opening bet of the tournament?
The most important part is to make a sportsbook as easy as possible to use. For the regular players of a sportsbook, everything will be the same. But for others, they want a sportsbook that is as basic as possible.
A huge part would be to have users playing from day one to the final day of the tournament. If you achieve this, you will gain a long-term player.
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