Ian Catchick, BetGames: Kicking off ICE with T-Kick

Kicking off the year, BetGames – in collaboration with Twain Sport – launched a football-inspired hybrid game which it believes will offer a whole host of betting opportunities. Acting as a complement to its T-Basket product launched in 2022, T-Kick will take centre stage at BetGames’ stand at ICE next week. 

Ian Catchick, Chief Product and Business Development Officer at BetGames, spoke with SBC about the launch of the new game and how this can help sports betting operators to retain those gamblers who enjoyed a flutter during the World Cup.

SBC: Congratulations on the launch of T-Kick! Why has now been the right time to launch a football-inspired hybrid game?  

IC: Thank you! Our successful launch of T-Basket allowed us to learn more about customer needs and what we can do with this exciting new offering. We know that our customers love football, so we always wanted to introduce a football-themed game, and of course that meant that we wanted to make sure we were delivering the best possible product. 

With T-Basket, we discovered that players engaged with the product both during, and outside of peak hours and were happy to play during quieter periods. Therefore, with T-Kick we’ve added over 6,000 additional games to our schedule – giving users more betting opportunities per month. The new launch promises excitement with another blockbuster game being offered to the sports betting community. We’re delighted especially to be showcasing it at ICE next week! 

SBC: Can you walk us through the game – what can people expect when they watch a T-Kick game/tournament? 

IC: T-Kick is a head-to-head game which pits two athletes against each other for 60 seconds, the goal is to score the greatest number of points with different targets lighting up within the goalposts throughout the game.

Similar to T-Basket, there’s a tournament every hour, with group stages being followed by knock-out games. Likewise, the athletes won’t know how many points their competitors will be playing for on each shot, which adds to the excitement. 

Across the year, users will have the chance to bet on 15 games per hour for 14 hours every day. For our operator partners, we’ve provided everything in a single package with trading, UI, data and streaming all being provided as part of the SaaS solution. It’s a one-of-a-kind product and I have no doubt that it’s going to be a massive hit. 

SBC: Why have you decided to go with a fast-paced nature for T-Kick, with games only lasting 60 seconds?  

IC: We have extensive customer insight which informs us that customers are looking for high quality content that can be easily digested and offers fast-paced excitement. We originally planned to have longer games but through consumer analysis we adapted our plans to better suit demand and our research. 

We also wanted to meet player preferences and offer them the right mix of fun and excitement, which is of course a key element that makes the product great. The short games also allow the athletes to really go for it, as they’ll rely on speed and accuracy in a variety of 60-second encounters.

SBC: Given that the World Cup has now come to an end, how can T-Kick be used to retain bettors that were onboarded during the tournament?  

IC: The structure of T-Kick offers a lot of flexibility to players, they can join at any point and can compete in individual matches or bet on the tournament itself. This flexibility sees T-Kick able to cater to all player tastes regardless of age or demographic, allowing players to consume the short-form content they’re passionate about. 

Given those player trends, we feel that we have the perfect product that appeals to these recreational bettors – a vibrant, fast and dynamic sport, attractive to all and guaranteeing a thrilling sports betting experience. For us, we see it filling a major gap in the market – and we’re looking forward to rolling this out across Europe and beyond. 

SBC: From an operator perspective, how can games such as T-Kick and T-Basket “bridge the gap” between the demand for content and new revenue streams?  

IC: Both are fully managed products where the operator can leave everything to the BetGames team and we’ll manage the trading, UI, UX, data and broadcast. We’re always hearing about the demand for more high quality and high frequency sports content. 

We’ve provided this thanks to our agreement with the independent Hybrid sports league and federation, where more than 10,000 Twain Sport games take place per month. 

SBC: Looking at the integrity side of things, what are the key challenges for fast-paced games such as this? And how will Sportradar’s FDS help Twain Sport to guarantee the highest level of integrity across each game?

IC: We’ve built in multiple layers of integrity, and this was one of the key foundations we built and launched Twain Sport upon. Along with all the expected risk management activities, there are also additional security and surveillance operations in place.

Alongside this, the independent sports federation and league focus their efforts on integrity, which is boosted by the fact we’re also using Sportradar integrity services. These measures culminate in the provision of the highest integrity professional sports in the world.

 This allows us to have the utmost confidence in our head-to-head format thanks to several tiers of in-house and independent expertise scrutinising every single shot per event, and also helping to educate all stakeholders within the sport and operations units.

SBC: Can we expect any more hybrid games for 2023? 

IC: We have a number of exciting plans for the TWAIN SPORT portfolio, and like T-Basket, we’ll use the T-Kick launch to understand more about customers’ needs and evolve around them.

Additionally, we also have plans to introduce a number of new initiatives which will increase the number of matches and betting opportunities available to players. We’ll be able to provide further information on the roadmap and future plans after the T-Kick launch, but I can confidently say that we have high expectations for the evolution of TWAIN SPORT, which will be beneficial for players and operators alike. As to further announcements – you’ll have to watch this space!