SBC News Voice of the Sports Betting Industry
Opening the 2017 Betting on Football Conference (BOFCON) an expert panel debating ‘Future Market Challenges’, details that industry stakeholders are now facing a new reality following mass consolidation and a realignment of the sector’s major players.
Simon French Senior Executive at Cenkos Securities states that ‘it is simply too early to judge the winners of market consolidation witnessed in 2015/16’. French points that the sector’s enlarged enterprises now face the realisation of changed market conditions as competitors look for effective scalability, omni-channel capabilities backed by costly player acquisition and marketing spend.
Simon Davies Head of European Research at Canaccord Genuity points to new interesting dynamics witnessed between sector competitors. Whilst much attention was garnered by the mergers of Paddy Power Betfair and Ladbrokes Coral, Davies points to Sky Betting & Gaming as being the sector’s best ‘growth performer’, that can compete digitally without any corporate constraints.
Assessing industry innovation Ed Birkin Director of Ignite Research, details that sector stakeholders are focused on ‘omni-channel’ gains for their retail assets combined with ‘deeper personalisation’ at a digital engagement level.
Birkin notes that the industry will likely see a wholesale change in strategy to retail betting divisions, which moving forward may act as an ‘omin-channel’ acquisition point to bookmaker’s digital services, thus becoming another function of ‘operator marketing’.
