SBC News Voice of the Sports Betting Industry
Following on from the iGaming Supershow in Amsterdam, Nick Hill – Sales & Marketing Director at EveryMatrix, details to SBC readers the operational impact of continued changing dynamics between industry software suppliers and their operator client base.
As operators have to meet new consumer standards and trends, Hill details that industry progress and development should ultimately challenge sector legacy values and processes.
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SBC: Hi Nick, the industry has entered the half-way mark of 2016. From a commercial standpoint, what 2016 trends, factors and impacts have caught your eye?
Nick Hill: First of all, I have to say that sports and casino suppliers need to consider these days the growing number of operators that want to customize their product offering while employing various gaming platforms from different suppliers. This situation places operators in the unexpected position of dealing with many providers that bring aboard different technologies and integrations.
At the same time, we have to admit that players’ demands have changed and the request for localized content increased exponentially.
Additionally, operators need to be very well acquainted with the territories they target and really understand their audiences if they want to be successful. For instance, an operator that decides to access the Danish market needs to be aware of the difficulties that may rise from trying to obtain the necessary gambling licences.
For this reason, we believe all operators that target specific territories and jurisdictions have to be aware of the existing legislation and comply with all local requirements.
SBC: Last time we spoke, you outlined how operators would have to adjust to new market conditions caused by new taxes and regulations. How do you feel the industry has adjusted to these factors?
NH: I believe that taxes and gaming legislation that appear in regulated countries can be regarded as part of a natural evolution in the iGaming industry, which becomes more mature and we, as gaming software suppliers, can only adjust and adapt to the new conditions.
Operators also have no choice but to adapt their gaming businesses to the local circumstances of the targeted countries if they want to succeed.
I don’t think we should see operators and software providers as living in different worlds that are not affected by normal taxation and there is certainly no antagonism between us and the local laws of the countries we target. Since we are running a normal business, we are instructing our operators to follow the same rules and conditions of the targeted countries and comply with the existing legislation.
So, I believe the industry is well aware of the necessary steps we all need to take in order to respect legislation and I don’t see any issues to appear in the future.
SBC: In 2016, we have seen operators demand a higher emphasis on creating data flexibility and independence. How has EveryMatrix coped with delivering in these sought after capabilities?
NH: The EveryMatrix platform is all about flexibility and right now we are deploying massive efforts to develop our next gaming platform, which has been designed to permit fast integration of APIs from content suppliers, payment companies and 3rd party software.
We clearly understand that the gambling industry has grown and there is a demand in the market for fast integration between multiple gaming software providers. For this reason, it is very important for EveryMatrix to be able to launch products that are flexible and easy to integrate, while keeping in mind the front-end customer experience.
Moreover, EveryMatrix has worked on a range of APIs that allow operators to take control and deliver the desired experience to players, simply by using HTML, JavaScript and Java React. This API technology has been included in all our products, from Sports to Casino and Payments.
SBC: From a platform and software supplier perspective in 2016 and beyond, what industry legacy values and thinking do you feel will be tested or wiped out?
NH: The online gaming industry is a very dynamic space and competition is difficult to be avoided by players that access the world of gambling. However, I do believe the future of software development in gambling will be taken by a growing collaboration between various companies.
We have never considered our company as the single player that can offer all the necessary solutions to our clients and we have always placed our bet on creating better connections with other suppliers.
As our CEO loves to say, our business is all about aggregation and a constant drive to build better relationships among players that create software platforms for the industry.
SBC: EveryMatrix successfully continues to launch new operators in multiple international markets. From your perspective, what is the biggest challenge new industry operators face when launching products in 2016?
NH: New operators face multiple challenges which they need to overcome before they can become successful. They may have a difficult time in determining the best gaming products that need to be integrated, or they may not know exactly what it means to have access in a new regulated market.
That’s why, we do our best to stay close to them and assist them, not only by delivering reliable software products and gaming licences, but making sure all the various solutions work smoothly on our platform.
In addition to the normal challenges that appear for operators in the market, we have realized that many times the new start-up businesses are not very well connected to the latest legal developments that take place in certain jurisdictions and we consider that a common effort is required in order to better understand our final target markets.
SBC: Finally, from a software and platform provider perspective, in order to ensure future growth and further product appeal, what factors must industry stakeholders address in the coming months to ensure further progress?
NH: I believe every platform provider needs to be connected to the latest technological changes that affect the iGaming industry, such as the growing demand for mobile platforms and the increasing number of players that choose to place bets in live sports.
To serve these players, EveryMatrix has improved its strategy by looking to provide gaming solutions that use the latest technology (HTML5, AngularJS, Java) and enhance the final user experience. Furthermore, we noticed that most players at this moment prefer to place bets from multiple devices, that’s why offering a cross device front-end is again vital for our clients.
Another important factor to be considered is the permanent adoption of gaming legislation that spreads throughout the world and I think that it won’t be long before we’ll be able to observe countries in the Asian region adopting gaming laws. We are well aware the Asian market contains the highest gambling potential and we think there can be no long-term progress without a strong presence in the region.
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Nick Hill – Sales & Marketing Director at EveryMatrix
