SBC News Voice of the Sports Betting Industry
Punters can now receive team-by-team news and audio blasts via Amazon’s personal assistant, after Independent Content Services (ICS) launched Amazon Alexa Skill in time for the new season.
The new service delivers the latest team news, in-play match reports and sports bulletins plus a daily betting brief, all compiled and recorded by ICS’s large team of specialist sports broadcast reporters. It has been released through the ClubCall brand.
By simply asking Alexa to “Open ClubCall” users of the fast-growing audio platform can select the latest news and information on all Premier League teams as well as audio blasts for key events during matches, such as a goal being scored.
In addition, it can be used to offer expert betting tips to users, as well as provide information for individual teams, leagues and sports. ICS is offering to white-label its content to online bookmakers and media outlets, who can send out their own custom news blasts to punters.
Ian Holding, Director at ICS, said: “Amazon Alexa and other voice services are becoming increasingly popular in households all over the world. The platform provides such an easy and effective way to access meaningful content without being crouched over a screen.
“For online bookmakers, it is another touchpoint for them to engage with their customers and provide them with valuable information.
“The key thing is to create a custom Skill with a real person delivering relevant content. Not only is the real thing far more entertaining and engaging than a computer-voiced text but people also place more trust in human voices.
“We specialise in audio production and our radio-style information services can really help differentiate operators and help to get them noticed by a new type of customer.
“Audio represents the future, especially as we are becoming increasingly bombarded with visual messages on small screens, and voice is the most effective communication tool we possess.
“Google are also developing searchable algorithms for audio and once audio content is indexed in a similar way to text, it could open up a whole new world of exciting opportunities.
“Our Clubcall Alexa Skill has been well received during its beta-test, and we look forward to rolling it out with online bookmakers and other partners in the coming months.”
ICS offers bookmakers a raft of products including radio broadcasts, off-tube commentary on all Premier League games, as well as news stories, features and previews.
The group also offers a comprehensive translation and localisation service spanning 65 languages including German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Russian, Chinese and Swahili.
ICS will mark its first Betting on Sports stand debut by creating personalised audio recordings, in which the names of conference delegates are placed at the heart of iconic moments in football history.
