SBC News Voice of the Sports Betting Industry
Colossus Bets is a valued sponsor of this year’s Betting on Football Conference taking place at Stamford Bridge, home of Chelsea FC, on April 21st.
Colossus Bets is the home of ‘The £10,000,000 Colossus’, the world’s biggest sports jackpot and boasts none other than Michael Owen as brand ambassador.
Ahead of #bofcon we spoke to company CEO Bernard Marantelli about the opportunities and challenges that Euro 2016 offers, the year ahead as Colossus’ pools product moves into African and Asian territories and how each year #bofcon has exceeded his expectations.
SBC: What’s the most important thing for operators to get right ahead of Euro 2016, and what’s the most challenging aspect of major international competitions such as this?
Bernard: With so much competition around marquee sports events it is crucial that operators make their product as enticing as possible, whilst treading with care around loss leaders (whether free bets, ‘specials’ or ‘price boosts’) that largely attract transient customers.
I think a big challenge is providing a format which keeps players coming back, not just for the duration of the tournament. For instance, with each of the Colossus pools we try to make sure that the games are spread out over a few days rather than all kicking off at once, so players have a reason to come back to check how they are doing leg-by-leg and maybe bank some cash-out profits. We also have our unique £1,000,000 Free to Play game which we will be offering more frequently to our B2C players and the players of our B2B partners during the Euros, where will be offering more than £70,000,000 of prizes overall.
SBC: How important is the sport of football to your business?
Bernard: Football is the oxygen of our business. Colossus was built to provide lotto-sized sports pools of global appeal and in reality football (soccer) is the only truly global sport.
In terms of building a EuroMillions equivalent on sports, our focus is top-tier European and International football and the Euros and World Cup provide us with a great showcase every couple of years.
SBC: What effect will the major mergers of recent times have this year, if any?
Bernard: I think mergers will homogenise the industry even further and many operators, perhaps initially smaller and mid-tier operators, will increasingly need to find USP to compete with the major players.
I think this will work well for Colossus given our pools are an obvious choice for operators and platforms looking to differentiate. We have always said that our pools will be restricted to a limited number of B2B partners in each territory, thus further ensuring Colossus will remain a USP for our partners.
SBC: What does 2016 have in-store for you?
Bernard: 2016 has already been an exciting year for the company with our pools going live with both African and Asian facing partners. Our roadmap of partners to get live before the Euros is chock-a-block, so watch this space for plenty of new live partners being released between now and June.
We also have a significant number of partners who we have not been able to schedule for June, but who will be live over the Summer in time for the 2016-17 season. Our development team won’t be resting on their laurels once the Euros kick-off.
SBC: Why did you choose to become a sponsor of this year’s #bofcon?
Bernard: We have attended all of the #bofcon events since they started, and each year the event has grown and exceeded our expectations.
As a company whose main focus is football, it is a fantastic networking event for us and gives us the opportunity to meet with like-minded individuals and learn about the latest industry developments.
SBC: Euro 2016 – who’s going to win, who’s going to shine and who’s going to slump?
Bernard: For local interest, we would love to see England make the final, and then for the national psyche lose tragically on penalties!
