TCM InPlay is sponsoring Betting on Football 2018, the fifth edition of the largest international football and betting trade conference at Stamford Bridge, the home of Chelsea FC.
Ahead of the 20-23 March event, we spoke to the company’s CEO Jim Yu about what he is looking forward to at #bofcon2018, which innovation he expects to capture the most attention in 2018, and who he is backing to lift the World Cup trophy in Russia.
SBC: What are you looking forward to at Betting on Football?
JY: When Ras (SBC Founder) invited me to attend Betting on Football (BOF) in 2018, I was super excited. This is one of my must-attend C-level events for the year. Meeting such an amazing group of speakers and experts from the industry at a great venue such as Chelsea Stamford Bridge is just bound to create good conversations.
I am looking forward to meeting with my colleagues from the leading European football clubs and gaming operators. BOF is a unique opportunity to learn more about the challenges that the operators are facing and get to know directly big names from the football.
SBC: What are you promoting at Betting on Football?
JY: We have chosen BOF for a special introduction of our latest high frequency in-play tournament product called Super7. TCM InPlay Limited is global leading social sports company and we aim to provide the best in-play prize competition products and services based on real-time football games.
Super7 is a fresh and true gaming innovation that you have never seen. It carries a clever strategy for any gaming operators and football clubs for new customer acquisition, cross selling, customer re-activation and legal revenue generation.
The most exciting part is that it has multiple application across various verticals. After two years of development, we hope to give the biggest surprise to the football and gaming world. If any companies are interested in monetization or innovative customer acquisition, they should definitely check it out.
SBC: What industry innovation will capture the most attention in 2018?
JY: It will always be exciting to watch innovative products that could resolve two ‘Pain Points’ for any business: customer acquisition and traffic monetisation. I believe that everyone will pay attention to these two critical areas and we should expect disruptions in 2018.
As mobile continues its inevitable march toward eclipsing desktop for consumption and coming from the Asian market where mobile is the king, we are looking for this crossing point where mobile-centric customer acquisition, conversion, real-time engagement and retention will be designed and managed with mobile-first strategy.
SBC: How can your company help to improve the customer experience ahead of the World Cup?
JY: Super7 is a free to join prize competition product. Users will have 5 free chances to select what will happen in the next 5 minutes at any second during the game. The odds for the 6 markets we offer selections are changing as the game evolves.
Players who have won the most trophies at the final whistle will be rewarded with prizes. Our players win extra chances to play for sharing on social media or purchasing virtual goods. Our customisable solution enables tailor-made options for these extra play chances according to the individual operator’s requirements.
Let me give you a few examples to illustrate. For example, football clubs might require a membership subscription or social media account following to award extra chances. Betting companies might give extra play chances for registrations or funded customers who have joined their website. Our product is offering engaging and fully immersive experience, which draws players to complete daily / monthly tasks and win new prizes and bonuses.
During the InPlay product presentation at BOF, we will share actual operational data with the audience and so that they could go away and think of how to improve their own business performance with Super7. We are already in partnerships with various football clubs, NYSE and HK listed companies in Asia; we are looking to bring this new product to the European market and get feedback from our partners.
SBC: Who are you backing to win the tournament, and why?
JY: We put entertainment first, so as a company TCM Inplay is behind all teams who made it to the World Cup tournament. I hope World Cup 2018 would offer great games, and big drama as everybody likes a good game. We are all about in-play so the bigger the drama, the bigger the emotions.
If you are asking about my personal preferences, then as a football fan I am a big fan of Brazil. I think after their defeat in 2014, the current team is full of talented players, huge ambition and they have a great coach Tite. I think they have the drive to win their first World Cup in Europe since 1958. But who knows, let’s wait and see.