SBC News Voice of the Sports Betting Industry
A series of big payouts around games involving Arsenal, Aston Villa, Nottingham Forest, Newcastle United and other clubs have given bet365 renewed confidence in its ‘Sub On, Play On’ feature.
Introduced by the company last month, the ‘Sub on, Play On’ feature sees a bettor’s wager on a specific player – such as a bet on Arsenal’s Bukayo Saka’s to score for example – roll on to that player’s replacement if substituted during a game.
The firm was not the first to launch this style of product, and likely won’t be the last. The first to do so was Paddy Power with its ‘Super Sub’, followed by William Hill with the ‘Impact Sub’. In industry circles, these products have been colloquially referred to as ‘Super Subs’ after the original incarnation at Paddy Power.
A super boost for customer engagement?
Just a month after launch, bet365 seems to be finding the product a real winner for customer acquisition and engagement, especially after a run of highly competitive and volatile fixtures in the Premier League.
Overall, over 250,000 of its global customers have used the product, with more than £18m paid out in winnings by the company. While this seems like a hefty payout for the company, albeit still a drop in the ocean of its £3.72bn revenue in 2024, the customer engagement value of the product likely offsets any losses it may incur.
“It’s been a really good addition to our portfolio, and it’s been well received by our customers, having paid out just over £18m over the first month,” said Steve Freeth, bet365’s Sports and Trading Expert.
“In total, 3.2m slips have benefitted from the promotion, with Aston Villa proving the costliest team in the Premier League.”
The Sub On product is offered across the full range of bet365’s player betting markets (which will be known as player props to growing American audiences), covering more than just predicted goalscorers.
Punters can use the feature on more specific goalscorer markets such as the player to score with a header or outside the box, as well as with non-goalscorer ones like bookings, assists, shots on targets, tackles and fouls.
Aston Villa stands out as one of the most popular choices for bet365 Sub On, Play On punters, with improved squad depth under manager Unai Emery providing bettors with solid insurance if their chosen goalscorer is replaced.
The club’s 2-1 win over Nottingham Forest earlier this month was particularly lucrative for one punter to the tune of a £1,000 win, bet365 detailed. Other winners included a bet on Arsenal’s Bukayo Saka’s which was rolled onto Ethan Nwaneri during a 4-0 win against Ipswich.
Freeth added: “Villa fans must be rubbing their eyes at the quality that Unai Emery is now able to turn to when changing the game, and we’ve seen some big payouts in the recent games versus Nottingham Forest, Southampton and Newcastle.
“Our most expensive payout to date was £1.4m, paid out on the Forest game to be exact when Marcus Rashford replaced Ollie Watkins on 62 minutes and then had a Shot on Target which caused the real damage, while Jota Silva coming on for Anthony Elanga and scoring added to the pain.”
