SBC News Voice of the Sports Betting Industry
Marathonbet CEO Viktor Hoffman has touched upon the difficulties the industry has dealing with ‘millennials’ and the different approach that might be needed to attract this youthful demographic.
Speaking at a betting conference last week, Hoffmann discussed how to engage millennials, commenting: “Millennials might spend less but they engage more. They’re generally more on mobile which tends to mean less bonus abuse.”
Hoffman was on a CEO panel discussing the future of sports betting which, given the topic, also had to touch on esports. SNAI CEO Fabio Schiavolin boldly stated: “Are we making money right now in esports? Of course not. But we are positioning ourselves strongly for growth of these markets in the future.”
Hoffman pointed out that operators need to be smarter with data, especially around esports where each title offers an overwhelming amount of live data. He said: “We’ve got so much data now that we’re drowning in it. The next step is not how to gather more but how to pick it apart and be selective. We need to start looking at smart data.”
David Bazak, 10Bet CEO, commented on the different challenges offered by different regions: “In grey regulated markets it’s easier for operators to get started as there are fewer barriers to entry.”
Hoffman added that the betting industry also needed to make sure it embraced the need to stamp out match-fixing: “Integrity needs to become not just something we talk about, but something which is ingrained in our business.”
The BOS panel is agreement that Millennials are the key demographic that everyone, not just the gambling industry, is trying to second guess as consumers.
Hoffman reminds the BOS audience that he could be described as a ‘millennial himself’. Marathonbet’s CEO has a decent handle and seems to think that mobile is a way to their heart. There is also a lot of hope that getting involved with esports will help transition those fans to the more traditional sportsbook activities.
