Generating meaningful experiences with sportsbook AI

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is rapidly transforming the betting industry. With algorithmic pricing and machine learning models providing new opportunities for operators. 

Despite presenting sports betting companies with the ability to enhance risk management and deliver dynamic odds settings, AI technology also comes with risks that operators should be aware of, from AI bias to regulatory scrutiny. 

As part of the company’s recent Sportsbook Digital Day, SBC’s Multimedia Editor James Ross ran through the pros and cons of AI evolution within sports betting alongside experts from leading operators. 

Detailing how AI has enhanced sportsbook offerings, Camilo Lucena Herradez, Engineering Team Lead at Betsson, pointed to odds settings as a key innovation. 

“Odds setting is something that is present right now for operators and bettors as well,” he said. “It is something that is still under development, a lot of companies are putting great effort and investment into it. There is great potential and it is evolving quickly.”

Explaining how AI technology is enhancing the user experience in addition to operator processes, David Jaquet. Director at ING Capital LLC, stated: “You can price a lot of things that you couldn’t price before. 

“For example, you can price shots on target, yellow cards, red cards and can combine them however you want, helping the end users with products on the shelf that weren’t there before.”

However, Jaquet emphasised that an influx of different products can create risks for operators, with offerings often becoming “bloated” with too many odds making it “difficult to generate a meaningful experience”. 

While utilising AI to improve the end product, operators also face the task of balancing innovation for a competitive advantage with regulatory compliance. Georg Wawer, Managing Director at win2day, explained how AI can enhance player protection. 

He commented: “Our ambition is to always be better with responsible gaming, to go not one, but two steps ahead. We had an award-winning responsible gaming tool called the ‘health check’ that predicts which players could have a problem in the future. 

“That is super important, to really look ahead and see what is happening and how a player’s behaviour compares to their own past or to other players.”

To watch the panel session in full, click here.