SBC News Voice of the Sports Betting Industry
Keith McDonnell is CEO of kmigaming.com and business development director at TotelFootball, the groundbreaking fantasy sports pools betting product. He will be representing TotelFootball in The Pitch at EiG 2013.
Keith has extensive experience of global gaming markets, having previously served as managing director of Bodog Europe and Bodog Asia, while other previous roles include being head of online at Tote and global affiliate marketing manager at William Hill.
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SBC: Hi Keith great to meet you, can you tell our readers more about TotelFootball and how you have developed and progressed your product from idea stage through to actual production?
Keith: TotelFootball is a real money fantasy sports betting business. Initially starting with football, we are giving fantasy enthusiasts the opportunity to monetise their game play more effectively by betting on their team for each round of matches. While traditional fantasy tends to focus on longer periods with players competing for set prizes, we offer multiple opportunities to bet each week across all the top football leagues in Europe.
After listening to some frustrations with traditional fantasy game play, we have delivered a product that offers value, entertainment, a social experience and large numbers of betting opportunities. What we have now is just the start for what we expect will be a product that tackles all key sports globally.
SBC: What attracted you to monetise the popular fantasy football game – a traditional free game format?
Keith: We knew that there was a demand so we decided to meet that. We listened to what the market feedback was for traditional gameplay and delivered products to address it. People talk about social betting being a recent phenomenon, but fantasy sports have been around for years and with features such as private leagues, leaderboards and an abundance of content, fantasy sports invented social gambling.
We have added more opportunity to transact and bet and give fantasy sports enthusiasts more reasons to play a game they love.
SBC: Your product is unique in its offering to operators, however how would you define your product and how do you see it fit within the igaming product arc?
Keith: TotelFootball has an acquisition element to it as operators can use it to get in front of customer demographics that they otherwise would be unable to with their core gambling product offering. However, it is really the retention aspect where we think successful Operators will benefit.
Our product – due to the vast number of events – will give customers a reason to come back time and again, stay within the operator’s site and transact. I would argue games like TotelFootball are simply must haves. Dare betting and gaming companies risk their customers going elsewhere to play fantasy sports and potentially stay away for their core betting? We can ensure there is no need for them to leave the environment in the first place. Just look at the stats. Three million active fantasy players in the UK and 30 million in the US tells us the market size – which continues to grow – is significant, with undoubted overlap with core gambling.
No doubt the igaming legal landscape in the US has helped grow the fantasy player base, but that just goes to show how important it is ahead of the market opening up, and when you look at emerging markets, fantasy can play a vital role as a soft entry for players and operators to the market place.
SBC: Most start-ups will be launched by first time entrepreneurs that may not know the finer details of financing and equity for their ventures. How much of a hindrance is this and can this be taught or learned in the start-ups journey?
Keith: Seasoned entrepreneurs undoubtedly have an advantage – at least the successful ones do – as they can lean on their network of investor contacts. As a first-timer raising finance there are simply no shortcuts. It’s about identifying the right profile of investor and building a case that matches their typical investment criteria. The amount of time required to be consumed here can often be underestimated.
SBC: Examining investment in igaming start-ups, are investors, whether they be private or institutional, put off by investing in ventures where the markets have very convoluted regulatory procedures that may not be completely defined?
Keith: Undefined regulatory frameworks may actually represent opportunities for certain types of investors as they see less opportunity for serious competition from big multi-national and publicly listed organisations. However, it is crucial to have an understanding of how individual marketplaces work, whether that is from personal experience or by having reliable and trustworthy agents or partners on the ground. Every country and region has its own customs and players will have preferred methods of engaging and transacting.
Understanding what is “black” and what is “grey” is key here but there is no doubt that in combining fantasy sports with social, TotelFootball fits neatly into an open market in some very large gambling territories.
SBC: What advice would you give start-ups attending the EIG start-up launch pad – what do they need to be doing in order to be thought of as an attractive proposition for potential investors?
Keith Be very clear about what the market opportunity is, understand why your product can be successful in capitalising on it and develop a common sense exit plan that sees investors’ interests showing favourable returns. And make it interesting – we are in the entertainment business after all – something we have tried to keep at the core of our development with TotelFootball.
TotelFootball will be competing in The Pitch at EiG and has been assigned the 11:40-12:00 slot on day three (Thursday, October 10, 2013) of the EIG EXPO at the Fira Barcelona.
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Keith McDonnell, Business Development director at TotelFootball
