SBC News Voice of the Sports Betting Industry
Paddy Power Betfair is sponsoring Betting on Football 2017, the fourth edition of the largest international football and betting trade conference at Chelsea FC’s Stamford Bridge.
Ahead of the 3-5 May event, we spoke to Kieran Packman, Head of B2B for Paddy Power Betfair, about why football is such an attractive sport for betting, how the market is changing from a consumer perspective and how betting and football stakeholders can work more effectively together.
SBC: Why is football such an attractive sport for betting?
KP: In my eyes there”s a plethora of reasons that football has been and remains such an attractive sport for bettors. The sheer depth of markets in the game combined with the perfect in-play capacity makes it interesting for punters. From corners to cards, there’s so many different ways for people to bet on football. Add to that the good, old-fashioned conflicting opinions on the same event and it’s clear to see why football is a great sport for betting.
SBC: From a consumer perspective, how is football betting changing?
KP: Simply put, from a consumer perspective, more markets bring more opportunities. There’s also been a huge recent growth in data provision and analytics available at the fingertips of a consumer. If you take Infogol or Opta, for example, a customer can leverage the power of their tools and statistics to make more informed decisions both before the event and in-play.
SBC: How can betting & football stakeholders work better and more effectively together?
KP: I think there’s still space for growth in data sharing. Should betting and football stakeholders share data more effectively, the customer will feel more empowered and thus more inclined to bet. Also, I think a joined up CRM has potential to help betting and football stakeholders work more effectively as well as the continued pursuit of innovative and unique content.
SBC: What new technology do you feel will have the biggest impact on football betting?
KP: I’m definitely most excited by player tracking technology. I feel it could have a huge impact on the way we inform existing customers, whilst also opening up the potential for many, many more derivative markets to become available. The opportunities are there, it’s just about leveraging them.
SBC: What key agenda, debate or discussion do you want to hear at BOFCON 2017?
KP: At BOFCON, i’m most interested to hear about the wider industry’s views on growth potential and execution strategies in regions that are not particularly renowned for it. In particular, I’m intrigued to hear the thoughts on strategies in regions such as Africa and Latin America.
