SBC News Voice of the Sports Betting Industry
As 2020 draws to a close, what better way to round off the year than by celebrating the achievements of some of the industry’s leading companies. At the star-studded SBC Awards earlier this month, Better Collective was recognised as the Sports Affiliate of the Year, which CEO Jesper Søgaard described as a ‘fantastic’ way to end what has been a challenging year.
SBC: Congratulations on winning the award for Sports Affiliate of the Year; can you tell us what this means to Better Collective?
JS: We are very proud to have won this award for the second year in a row – a fantastic achievement by the entire Group. 2020 has been a very unusual year, so it feels fantastic to receive this award just before the holiday season.
I am very proud of the team and how all colleagues at Better Collective really have taken a: “let’s get through this together”-attitude.
SBC: Why do you think you won this category?
JS: That would be up to the judges to answer that question.. That said, I think one of the reasons is the fact that our team continues to perform well, innovate, challenge the status quo and build fantastic sports betting media platforms.
As examples, I am excited that we have developed a new version of our German flagship Wettbasis.com and found new ways of engaging with our communities of sports fans across our platforms, e.g. developing new podcast formats, so overall the award definitely is a big Team win. The competition is tough, the industry is filled with great minds, and this also helps us to stay on our toes.
SBC: How have you managed to navigate your way through a difficult year?
JS: It has indeed been a challenging year. On the financial side of things, we had a look at our cost base and adjusted this to the new uncertain reality we were in. However, we have also continued to invest in our business in line with our strategy, e.g. growing our esports vertical. This has supported us strongly throughout the year and ensured we are in good shape for 2021.
SBC: What are you looking forward to in 2021?JS: Hopefully, sports will be back at full scale. Compared to the situation we faced months ago where basically all sports were closed It has been a good compromise to have sports events and matches taking place but without spectators. However, I look forward to spectators on a large scale again are back at the stadiums once it is safe. Live sport is simply more entertaining when there is a big crowd and a buzzing atmosphere.
