SBC News Voice of the Sports Betting Industry
When considering global expansion, technology should always be your greatest enabler. That’s according to Avi Shemesh, Founder of Delasport, who explained why the best technology is key to meeting the needs of players across multiple gaming jurisdictions.
SBC: Delasport has grown its global footprint in recent years, having established a presence in Europe, Latin America and the US. How do you meet the varying demands of your customers?
AS: One way to find success in separate markets is to have technology and insight that can be easily adjusted to fit the market needs. We always guide our partners on the required offering and accessibility a region might need, or will need depending on their scope.
From the start, our solutions were created with the idea to fit any operation no matter the scale, this same principle we apply to the launch strategies for every market that a client wants to find success with.
SBC: In terms of your expansion across these markets, can you explain how you decide upon where to launch new products?
AS: We always look to enable our partners to kick-off in whatever region they would consider, giving them the tools to succeed is easiest when they have the passion to succeed.
A large amount of our innovations and product advancement has come from collaboration to work a lightly explored market together with our partners. This is great as it always pushes us to create flexible solutions that can evolve brands with minimal effort.
SBC: Looking at the products that you offer, what would you say is the driving force behind your success? How does Delasport differentiate itself from the competition, in both mature and emerging markets?
AS: Our flagship solution has always been our advanced sportsbook platform. This has been our main motivation to achieve more every year since day one of Delasport. Technology should always be your biggest enabler.
SBC: You are well placed to view the market from the perspectives of both a supplier and an operator. What were the main trends that you saw in 2020?
AS: We always look to achieve a broad view of where the industry is and where it is heading. The past year has brought a shift to some of our projects, but more so has solidified the viability of our constant practices to push the limits of the core parts in the betting world.
Entering 2021, now, more than ever, the fine-tuning and development of a company’s product can shine more than their intended marketing and acquisition strategy. We always believe that the platform speaks for itself. In this way, our product has always kept pace with or led the standard set. We bring to the table a varied selection of localised, researched, viable offerings to leagues, events, and everything else a brand needs to target one or many markets.
SBC: The European sports betting market is crowded and fiercely competitive; in your opinion, how can operators differentiate their offers effectively?
AS: New operators are prone to purchasing and filling their offering with the widest selection they perceive possible for their sportsbook. While this is not an incorrect way to establish or perpetuate an existing brand, we have always looked to not only provide the most complete coverage but a wholeheartedly targeted and precise approach.
Brands looking to offer everything under the sun will find they are lacking in player engagement and retention. We have found that successful brands are ones that implement an intricate risk management strategy, one that can keep up with any volume or varied offerings. This should be coupled with an advanced system that inevitably allows for your quick set-up and even quicker expansion, should you play your cards right.
SBC: Online casinos also face huge levels of competition in Europe; what do you see as the key to success for operators in that market?
AS: While the casino market for Europe is saturated with established, fierce contenders the Delasport outlook has always been to provide advanced and complete solutions to make any new or existing brand compete with the best.
Casino will always need premium content to be readily available upon release. This can be done through the correct partnerships with providers and a strategy that takes you from start to finish quickly. Ensuring a good casino portfolio is one thing, having a powerful platform, along with a complete sports offering, is what takes you to the next level.
With major casino-only environments dominating the market, providing a one-stop-shop solution is how we get our partners and clients to the next level. When you have an initial player base or a marketing strategy that looks to achieve good traction, you will always find the best results with a joined casino and sportsbook approach.
SBC: The opportunities arising from the legalisation of sports betting in many US states have created a lot of excitement in the industry; what do operators need to do to develop a suitable offer for the US audience?
AS: For many European operators, the US market is slowly opening its doors. New and existing brands can look to expand their knowledge and enter prepared. The American market has major players that keep the industry evolving in a slightly different way to the current European one. Finding your footing in a budding and open market will be achievable through a tried and tested, powerful product that can indulge any need operators might have for their success.
More than just opening its doors, the US audience is one that has established practices and preferences that can vary greatly from state to state. Operators will need to look at their offering as if starting from scratch, you may have peak interests and player favourites in mind, but without a powerful solution to back it up, you will fall short of expectations more often than not.
SBC: Latin America is another region that is attracting a lot of attention, as more countries look to regulate online gambling. How different are markets there to Europe? And what sports and games should operators concentrate on to succeed there?
AS: We have partners, clients, and connections within the Latin American market for some time now and I find that a good amount of European target market strategies are flipped on their head with the Latin American approach.
The fan base is very large in Latin America and to focus solely on the major leagues for the continent is an approach that is now dated. The key aspects operators should look to hit are expanded offerings and niche league interests, which is to say that a huge portion of the fans are spread across the minor league scene in Latin America.
Knowing where and when the shift in audience happens will provide you with an adequate offering for the player base and ensure retention in future.
SBC: The shutdown of major sports leagues and tournaments in 2020 put a lot of focus on esports betting. How was Delasport able to help its customers react to this spike in demand?
AS: We have, for some time now, invested a lot of resources into developing a top-tier solution for operators engaging the esports scene. Being consistent in your esports offering is how operators can look to retain most of their player base. The market itself has both longstanding major leagues and new budding niche leagues for trending releases with a short six to 12-month lifespan depending on the esport title.
We have found great success in increasing the lifespan and engagement of players with intricate marketing and retention strategies in place. When provided with both a powerful esports solution and esports know-how, some of our clients were able to achieve an increase of over 550% for their brands.
The shutdown of major leagues and tournaments brought to light a few issues that the current structure in our industry could not innately tackle. The collective effort of all professionals in the field is what kept it afloat in the end.
We have always been supporters and investors in teams and leagues we deem exceptional, and this year we have finalised a partnership with the Balkan International Basketball League, now becoming the Delasport BIBL (Balkan International Basketball League).
With this new partnership, we will look to bring our support of minor and major leagues to the next level and bring a much-needed boost to the current basketball scene in the region.
