SBC News Voice of the Sports Betting Industry
BOS ‘US Sports’ panel are all in agreement that the NFL represents the ‘Golden Goose’ of US sports for European betting operators.
Opening Day 2 of BOS, Don Best Sports’ Benji Cherniak inquiries the expert panel about ‘the opportunities NFL offers as a betting market?’.
Cherniak’s question is met with great enthusiasm from Jamie McKitterick (Head of Sports Trading – Ladbrokes), who responds by stating that the NFL has an incredible reach for recreational players.
With betting marketing costs being driven up within traditional European sports, McKitterick further details that operators yearn for sports that can create ‘organic acquisitions’ channels.
McKitterick states that Ladbrokes would welcome a London NFL franchise, stating that the raised profile of the sports could one day see it rival wagering of traditional sports markets.
Peter Bertilsson CEO of Metric Gaming agrees with McKitterick on the NFL’s growing popularity within the UK and Europe. However, he warns that European operators have yet to truly service their players with effective US sports betting markets.
Bertilsson an expert in live betting environments, states that NFL games can become ‘cash cows’ for European enterprises, but that stakeholders have to gain a deeper knowledge of the sports, its customs and live viewer habits and trends.
Nathan Rothschild (Co-Founder iSports Genius) backs Bertilsson statement, detailing that US sports fans are sophisticated in their very nature pointing that they are driven by game and player stats, and unlike European sports fans tend to show less loyalty to teams.
The panel concludes the session by agreeing that US sports betting markets have improved, however no European enterprise has pushed ahead of the field.
