With Betting On Sports two weeks away, SBC continues catching up with the event sponsors as we sat down with Yiannis Gangas, Chief Product Officer at Vermantia.
He told SBC about the highlights package Vermantia would be presenting as well as discussing the ‘behind-the-scenes’ opportunities that will be made available to visitors.
What are you looking forward to at Betting on Sports?
Betting on Sports is a must attend event which combines the latest in sports betting products and services alongside the presence of the industry’s major players. As always, it presents a great opportunity to catch up with both our existing customers and partners, as well as meeting new ones. In addition, we’re looking forward to the industry’s speaking tracks. There’s a great line up and it is an excellent way to hear first-hand about what’s happening from operators and fellow suppliers, as well as discussing future trends.
What are you promoting at Betting on Sports?
We’ve got a whole range of exciting highlights to present to operators, especially when it comes to our market leading live racing channels, which deliver a bespoke, round-the-clock service. As well as giving operators a unique competitive edge to attract and retain new customers, they are packed with top-quality horse and greyhound racing from the UK, USA, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand and are fully supported by Vermantia’s complete odds and data services.
Alongside, our modern SSBT solutions will give a first-hand, futuristic look into a convenient, digitised and completely cashless retail experience, which will be front and centre with our live sports channels. Visitors will also have the chance to take a peek behind the scene of our range of content-driving technologies, such as our satellite broadcasting and streaming service, which offers the thrill of live action with less than one second latency, as well as CONNECT our proprietary content management and publishing platform.
What industry innovation will capture the most attention in 2019?
There’s an emerging trend of suppliers and operators looking to make the customer journey simpler, and I think we’ll continue seeing innovations around that. Whether that be online or in retail, there’s an increasing focus towards customers. Modern consumers want a seamless user experience personalised to them, and innovations in this sector will continue to capture attention. Our SSBTs are specifically targeting that need and are cost effective because they utilise the latest in cashless and mobile payment solutions, while also providing data and picture content to our partners – all customised to the needs of the local audiences.
Which sports betting operator has impressed you the most in 2019?
When it comes to operators, it’s all about offering tailor-made solutions, both in terms of innovative premium content and multi-channel delivery. Of course, we look to provide this for our partners, and have been really impressed with OPAP’s focus on their live sports retail channel, powered and delivered by Vermantia technology, as well as its constant quest for new products and innovations for their customers. OPAP aside from its world-leading business achievements impresses also through its exemplary parallel work towards Responsible Gaming and CSR. They’ve been of great support to the Greek national community by renovating recently two of Greece’s largest children’s’ hospitals. We’re very proud to work alongside them.
What sports betting partnership has stood out in the past 12 months?
Vermantia is a licensed distributor of prime live Racing data and pictures. As a result, we value and recognise partnerships that increase the reach of prime sports content at the international betting markets. In this sense, I think Sportradar’s recent partnerships with MLB and NFL stand out for being official data and audiovisual distribution deals of two major US sports on a global scale. Such agreements between rights owners and international distributors and technology providers are what fuel growth of sports betting to the benefit of all its stakeholders.
If you could attend one sporting event, what would it be?
As Greeks, and with a rich and ancient tradition of enjoying live sporting events we’re certainly passionate about it! Being a tennis fan myself, attending the ATP Finals in London would be my pick. Especially this year that our own Stefanos Tsitsipas is fighting for a place at O2 Arena among the legends of the sport!
Which parts of the conference agenda have caught your eye?
It’s always hard at BOS to choose which sessions…not to attend! This year I’m looking forward to the Africa, CIS and Eastern Europe sessions where we are well established and active. The discussions on Retail and on Racing will also be very interesting to follow. At Vermantia we like to consider ourselves at the forefront in both developing future-proof solutions for retail and internationalising racing, so we have things both to share and listen to with our industry associates during these sessions.
#boscon, held 17-20 September at Olympia London, is the world’s leading sports betting industry event, with this year’s conference set to boast 300 leading industry speakers across 50 sessions, with 120 exhibitors displaying their latest products.
Delegates will be treated to world-class hospitality with plenty of business and networking opportunities at some of London’s most iconic venues including the Natural History Museum. For more information about the event, please visit the Betting on Sports website.