GR8 Tech: You Have the Audience—Now Win the Market: The Next Move for Mature Operators

Igor Kaufman, Head of Sportsbook Business at GR8 Tech, outlines why mature online casino operators should consider opening a sportsbook to diversify, and explains why that platform should be powered by the company’s ULTIM8 Sportsbook iFrame.

The traditional casino model, while effective, has reached its limits. Operators face revenue plateaus, and familiar tactics no longer produce the same results. In the face of rising competition, iGaming businesses are looking for new growth avenues and, for many, the answer is clear: sportsbooks.

As sportsbooks become an essential growth driver for mature operators, simply having one is no longer enough. It needs to be fast, flexible, secure and easily integrated. 

The Hidden Cost of “Starting from Scratch”

Many operators still treat adding a sportsbook like launching a new business. New teams, new processes, new infrastructure—it slows everything down and eats up resources. But mature operators already have the essentials: tech, data, a brand and an audience. What they don’t have is the time or interest for complex integrations that overpromise and underdeliver.

Most platforms are slow, rigid and hard to scale. That’s why, at GR8 Tech, we created the ULTIM8 Sportsbook iFrame: a scalable, easy-to-implement solution that allows operators to expand into sports betting without overhauling their existing infrastructure or facing common integration challenges.

The ULTIM8 Sportsbook iFrame plugs straight into the existing setup, keeps the UX intact and goes live in a week. No rebranding; no rebuilds. Just a solid product built for operators who already know what they’re doing. Ultim8 lets you stay in control, adapt it as needed, and move at your own pace. It helps turn casino players into sportsbook users.

Cross-Sell to Sportsbook: The Key Opportunity

Mature casino operators have a strong base of loyal users, but most aren’t fully using that audience to grow into sports betting. The real opportunity is acquiring new sports bettors and getting existing casino players to engage with sports content.

There are two key reasons this approach works. First, user acquisition for sports is generally cheaper than for casino. Sports can therefore act as an additional, more cost-effective entry point—players might sign up for sports, then move to casino, or vice versa. It’s like someone walking into a shopping mall and visiting more than one store. The audiences naturally overlap.

Second, operators are looking for content that lands somewhere between traditional sports and casino. Casino is engaging but has a short-cycle; classic sports can be slower and harder to localise. We’ve seen that faster sports content, like replays or simulated matches (FIFA, table tennis, for example), has been performing well. Users are adopting it, and retention looks promising.

That’s where operators are now experimenting: trying to introduce quick, engaging sports content to casino players, and seeing cross-traffic flow the other way, too. That kind of movement is only possible when the product sits well within an existing ecosystem, when it doesn’t feel like a bolt-on or require users to relearn everything.

Not All Sportsbooks Are Built the Same

There are many sportsbook providers on the market, some offering simpler or budget-friendly solutions that may suit early-stage needs. In contrast, ULTIM8 Sportsbook iFrame was originally developed as part of a full platform with a strong emphasis on sports. As a result, it’s highly flexible and can be configured in various ways to align with specific operational goals. That’s why we focus on more mature operators who require advanced features, such as customisable UI, precise geo-targeting, robust risk management and niche content for localised strategies. 

That’s where we deliver the most value.

That level of depth may not be needed by new operators right away. They can still use the product, but we tend to see the most benefit when an operator already has some experience and now wants more control over the UI, geo strategies, risk tools or niche content.

The bottom line is that if you already have a casino audience, you don’t need to build something entirely new to move into sports. You just need the right layer to make that transition seamless for your team and your players.

Performance Drivers: Agility and Risk Management

The results speak for themselves. The ULTIM8 Sportsbook iFrame has been seen as a significant revenue growth driver, leading to an increase of up to  50% in GGR. I’d say the focus is on two key strengths: agility and risk management.

The system’s flexibility comes from its widget-based architecture, which allows easy customisation. That matters for operators who need to make quick adjustments or scale efficiently without disruptions.

Other important ULTIM8 features are odds personalisation, multi-bet options and dynamic cashout tools. The enhancements increase betting volume, while its smart margin management system enables operators to optimise profits in real time.

Since launch, the ULTIM8 Sportsbook iFrame has shown solid results. Some operators have seen strong GGR numbers—hundreds of thousands per month, not long after going live. But what they mention most often is the setup: it works with what they already have and doesn’t require starting from scratch. And it’s fast—on average, operators who integrated ULTIM8 saw around 76% faster time to market than traditional setups. 

For casino operators thinking about adding a sportsbook, it’s not really a question of “if” anymore—it’s about “how” to do it without slowing everything else down. 

The ULTIM8 Sportsbook iFrame isn’t trying to replace existing platforms. It’s a functional, flexible product built for teams that already know what they’re doing and want to move faster.