SBC News Voice of the Sports Betting Industry
Social sports betting technology developer Oddslife is providing its 2014 World Cup social betting solution to Bulgarian sports media Sportal Media Group
The World Cup themed game, due for launch on 2 June, will allow Sportal to offer its users interactive entertainment around this summer’s footballing extravaganza in Brazil through Oddslife’s social sports betting platform.
Sportal has signed a ground-breaking three-year deal with Oddslife for its white label solution, meaning that the customer engagement will continue after the World Cup and into the club football season starting in August.
The Oddslife platform engages sports fans using a free-to-play model, where they predict the results of sports events to show off their sports knowledge and compete against their friends and fellow countrymen. They encounter compelling story lines and memorable sports moments as they progress and level up through the game; all within a socially branded world created and operated by their local trusted sports media brand Sportal.
The platform provides an easy to learn, core social betting game with multiple paths for engagement for players. These include in-play tournaments, daily competitions and social rewards with additional gamification and community elements added on an ongoing basis. The unique social gameplay experience is provided seamlessly across three integrated devices: web, iOS app and Facebook app, with an Android app planned for August 2014.
Stilian Shishkov, CEO at Sportal Media Group, commented: “Our editorial and production teams were greatly impressed at the capabilities of the Oddslife platform and we have moved quickly to secure it on a long-term deal. We think this social betting offer is extremely engaging and entertaining and believe our customers think so as well. We are especially excited about the global competitions where our fans will battle it out against other media partners across countries.”
Sportal Media Group is the largest internet media group on the Bulgarian market in terms of annual revenues and its Sportal.bg website attracts more than 2.8 million monthly unique users, with a third of the audience returning seven times daily. The firm has strong ties with sports professionals too, running the official website of former Manchester United, Tottenham Hotspur and Fulham striker Dimitar Berbatov, among others.
By officially becoming a partner with Oddslife, Sportal is now in esteemed company, joining Spanish media group MARCA, Denmark’s main football portal Bold.dk and the Greek media groups Sportday Newspaper, radio broadcaster Sport FM and Forthnet / Nova Group, which owns the NOVA sports tv channels.
Oddslife CEO and founder Rasmus Sojmark said: “We are delighted that Sportal have embraced the social sports betting concept so enthusiastically. As one of the major media providers in Bulgaria they are a perfect partner for us. We will provide them with market leading software, consultancy and local country support and in return they provide us with marketing budgets and local operational expertise which are invaluable to any local partnership.”
