Sportsbooks must realise the true meaning of real-time

Real-time is a phrase thrown around a lot these days to the point where it has become a buzzword, but do people actually know the true value of it and how it can be harnessed?

Real-time streaming, real-time data, real-time odds, real-time latency – these are all words that companies in the gambling sector will have become all too familiar with over the past few years.

How real-time engagement comes in useful really depends on the vertical gaming operators are pursuing though, the speakers on a recent SBC Digital Day explained. For the most part, sports betting-focused operators have the most to gain but perhaps also the most to lose from real-time engagement, depending on how they handle it.

Harel Falk, Vice President of Sales and Business Development at Solitics, a real-time marketing and data management platform, said: “When we talk about true real-time it’s about getting all that information from all those data sources and acting on it in real-time.”

In Solitics’ experience, the range of engagement options available to operators is very dynamic, and for the most part companies are making full use of these. SMS, emails, push notifications and pop-ups are being used ‘in a more dynamic way and in real-time’, Falk said.

Personalisation is needed to take things a step further through, the panel agreed. This of course depends on the data referenced by Falk, which is needed to paint a picture of a customer and their demands.

“Unlike with casino, sports betting is something that you experience alongside other entertainment. You may be actually watching the game, you may actually be at the game,” Georgi Pepelyankov, Head of Marketing Transformation at FDJ United.

“If I’m at the game and I get a notification about spins, that’s irrelevant to me – you need to know your customer and we need the data to do this. See which games a player is betting on, and what they like to engage with.”

On top of this, the timeliness of real-time is essential. This may sound like stating the obvious, but it is a fact – if a notification isn’t pinging up on a customers’ app almost instantly, it is hard to call it real-time.

Edward Soliman, Head of Sports CRM at BetMGM, said: “The ability to be relevant and timely is something that’s extremely valuable, or invaluable for lack of a better term actually, because if you do not measure and do not utilise it, you kind of lose that connection with your customer.”

Summarising how real-time is best done, Falk noted that different people have a different view as to what it means. The best definition, in his view, is one which provides a live customer experience, based on data, activities, and personalisation.

He said: “Personalisation in real-time is important across a lot of verticals and is important across the iGaming vertical in general, but in contrast to casino in sports, there is something that is going on right now, it could be going on right now.

“For sports, real-time engagement is absolutely critical, especially when you look at the competition out there now – there are multiple operators, customers have many places to go and place their bets.”