SBC News Voice of the Sports Betting Industry
German World Cup superstar Thomas Hassler is behind a new way for media brands to engage with sports fans.
Hassler, who won both the World Cup and European Championships with his country, has joined as brand ambassador for social sports betting platform developer Oddslife, which has developed a new method for sports fans to interact and compete on both national and international scale.
The Oddslife platform engages sports fans using a free-to-play social betting game, allowing them to challenge friends and countrymen, win virtual rewards, compete in live betting tournaments and interact socially within the community.
It is proving to be an attractive community and CRM tool for many of the continent’s big media players as Oddslife is already live in several European countries. In Spain it has teamed up with media giant MARCA for MARCA El Guru, while in Greece Tipmaster.gr is run in partnership with Sport-fm.gr and Novasports. Oddslife is also active in Bulgaria with Sportal.bg, Denmark with Bold.dk and in Italy through a licensing and agency deal with AssoPoker.com.
During the World Cup, Hassler will be providing Oddslife’s media partners with exclusive content detailing his thoughts, expertise and predictions on every game. He commented: “With Brazil 2014 about to start, now is a great time to be getting involved with such an innovative brand as Oddslife. The system is truly compelling and the sportsman in me makes the regular competitions even more attractive.”
Alongside his ambassadorial role, Hassler is also joining an eclectic and experienced Advisory Board containing considerable expertise from the betting, legal, gaming and marketing worlds. Among its members are:
Ben Dale, Business Advisor – Held a number of senior business roles in the gaming and technology sectors, including international development director for Ladbrokes PLC. He is a lawyer by background and has worked in various corporate and commercial roles.
Yan Tang, Asian Market & Advisor – General Manager at Asian gambling operator Samvo for 9 years. Consultant to a number of high profile gaming operators.
David Knight, Global Network Advisor – Business development & strategy consultant for TMT industry. Founding CFO/COO at Filmwave; VP Arts Alliance Media.
Bold.dk / Denis Larsen, Media Strategy Advisor – Denmark’s largest football portal with 1.5 million monthly unique users. The portal was established November 1999.
Simon Burrell, Digital Media & Gambling Advisor – Co-founder of BettorGroup.com and digital gaming consultant. Experience in print, sports media, digital and betting sectors.
Chris Duncan, Shareholder and CCO – Co-founder of Scandinavian online casino Betsson.com in 2001. Expertise in marketing, business development and raising of capital.
Charles Marsh, Shareholder and CFO – Chartered Accountant with London-based accountancy practice. Works directly with Oddslife on a part time basis.
David Duncan, Shareholder and Advisor – European institutional director (Schroders, GAM, GLG Partners). Qualified actuary and advisor to Oddslife on strategic matters.
Better Collective, Shareholder and Advisor – Operators of Bettingexpert.com and other gaming portals. Experts in affiliate marketing in the online gaming industry.
Oddslife CEO and founder Rasmus Sojmark said: “Thomas Hassler will make a great addition to our Advisory Board, which already incorporates expertise from a wide range of disciplines. Thomas’ knowledge of football and drive to win will help Oddslife achieve its major potential.
“The quality of our existing European media partners and the personnel on our Advisory Board shows that Oddslife is a serious player and that its fusion of social gaming and betting is a whole new way to engage the sports fan.”
