George Voyatzis – BetConstruct – Bereit für Berlin

Following a busy summer of product development and services optimisation , George Voyatzis  BetConstruct‘s Commercial Director details to SBC readers why BetConstruct are ready for a busy Berlin Conference schedule (EiG Expo October 20 – 22 & Berlin BAC October 22 – 25 )  

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SBC: You’ve put a lot of work into your sportsbook of late – what new features will you be showing at EIG?

George Voyatzis : We are constantly investing resources into the development of all our products and services with the Sportsbook receiving the utmost attention. In the past few months we added the “cash-out” function, now an industry norm amongst Tier 1 operators. We have also enhanced the margin control for partners, allowing them to both choose the range of markets that they offer their players and tailor the betting margins to suit their business. Collectively these features confirm our Sportsbook as the most flexible and commercially viable in the market.

Other additions include the enhancement of our integration modules, a new Asian view, more betting markets and live events, and the addition of eFootball. BetConstruct also has added extensive content and streaming on certain sports and events that are not available through any other provider, and even Tier 1 operators.

SBC: BetCloud is an interesting concept – how has the market responded to it?

GV: BetCloud is a major patent-pending innovation. It is an online marketplace for BetConstruct partners allowing them to accept bets above their established limits that they would otherwise decline and accept bets from the BetCloud that they did not have to sell initially. BetCloud allows to mitigate the risks associated with larger bets by sharing these with other operators. We’re just starting to implement the BetCloud facility for our existing partners. The feedback and response from previewing this at G2E earlier this month has been very positive and a number of partners are actively engaged. It is a unique facility that will no doubt enhance operators’ profitability and standing in the market.

SBC: This summer you launched a Spanish language version of the site – has this opened many more doors for you especially with your new licence as well?

GV: We have been actively engaged in the Latin American market. It is one of our strategic initiatives. Last year, we opened a sales and service office in Peru, with a growing 24/7 customer support team.  This has allowed us to cater for the Spanish and Portuguese speaking markets. We are also going live with our first client in Spain in October, after being granted certification of our sports betting software. As with most regulated jurisdictions, this has been a painstaking process, and we are delighted to be in this promising regulated market with our distinctive offering.

SBC: Do gaming brands underestimate the extensive expertise needed in several different disciplines to run a successful sportsbook?

GV: Aside from the expertise, to build and run a successful sportsbook from scratch is an extremely expensive proposition. For an in-house sports betting operation with a competitive offering, the costs for data alone far exceed what is commercially viable for most operators. This is even more relevant when working in regulated markets where barriers to entry with licencing, certification and taxation are considerable.  I often speak to sports betting operators who consider building an operation themselves only to move to a fully managed or pseudo-managed solution later.

BetConstruct’s sports betting personnel number over 300 traders and risk managers, not including developers, managers and customer support teams. The marker for a sports betting site in Europe are operators like Bet365, William Hill, Ladbrokes, Coral, Betfair and Paddy Power. BetConstruct has the product to offer comparable markets to them. We give our partners all the tools and the most possible flexibility to compete with the best.

SBC: BetConstruct has taken a global perspective in the provision of gambling services – what role do trade events play in this expansion and what jurisdictions are you targeting next?

GV: BetConstruct is a truly international organisation and we are very active in the main conferences and expos worldwide. This is not just to pursue new business, but to also cement our existing partnerships in various regions. BetConstruct has grown exponentially over the past 2-3 years and we plan to continue our expansion. Very soon we will be opening offices in Asia and other regions from where we see a great interest in what BetConstruct has to offer.