SBC News Voice of the Sports Betting Industry
Targeting enhanced visibility for its products during the ongoing 2022 FIFA World Cup, Network Gaming signed four key new partners ahead of the tournament.
The developer, which specialises in ‘bet small, win big’ products, entered into agreements with Planet Sport, WhoScored.com, At the Races and 101 Great Goals, the latter part of XL Media’s portfolio.
Under the terms of the partnerships, the four sports betting media publishers will conduct multiple launches for Network Gaming’s offering, with its World Cup Tournament Survivor title the lead product.
Thomas Rooney, Director of EU Sport at XLM, said: “This year’s World Cup is played offline, but experienced online and we are delighted to serve up the 101greatgoals.com audience with this fun, engaging and hugely popular game, thanks to Network Gaming.
“The guys have been superb from our initial conversation through to going live. They do all the work behind the scenes, we send traffic to the game – it’s hopefully just the start of a long and successful partnership.”
The quad of agreements marks the continuation of an upward trajectory for Network Gaming, which has launched its products with operators such as Fitzdares and media outlets talkSPORT and The Sun.
So far, the Fantasy Masters golf title has been one of its flagship products, having been integrated by the aforementioned Fitzdares, of which Network Gaming Co-Founder Harry Collins is Chief Marketing Officer for Collins discussed the product in an interview with SBC last year.
The company has stated that strengthening fan engagement and interaction, boosting repeat visits and digital dwell time are its core objectives, by delivering ‘real value-for-money enjoyment’.
Earlier this year, the sports prediction games developer received funding of £1.25m in an investment round, with participants including Betfair Co-Founder Andrew Black, Colossus Bets CEO David O’Reilly and TX Odds CEO Einar Knobel.
Mike Grenham, Managing Director of Betting at Planet Sport, commented: “We’re delighted to be partnering with Network Gaming, they have been a pleasure to deal with and the whole integration process has been seamless. We can’t wait to see how our audience of 15m users enjoy these great games.”
Looking ahead post-World Cup, Network Gaming plans to expand in the US, highlighting the market as a “greenfield opportunity” for its products, which it adds will “work particularly well” for the stateside sports scene.
Target markets include the NFL, NBA, MLB and horse racing, with the firm planning to launch its products in fixed-odds or daily fantasy sports formats for media companies or affiliates.
At The Races’ Director of New Media and Innovation, Matthew Taylor, added that the ATR team “look forward to working with Network Gaming on future projects”.
“Whilst ATR is first and foremost a digital platform for horse race fans, we fully understand that their interest in sport isn’t confined to equine excellence,” he remarked.
“The World Cup transcends traditional boundaries and we have historically devoted significant editorial coverage for tournaments but this year we also wanted an extra layer of engagement.
“We have partnered with Network Gaming, the brand leader in terms of pay-to-play predictive sports games, to deliver a series of World Cup games that will engage sports fans throughout the tournament and offer a small-stakes-big-prize-pool opportunity – winners will require a combination of strategy, skill and of course luck.”
