We finally met again in person at ICE London. What is the importance for the company of being present at the show?

It was fantastic for Sportradar to be back at ICE London after the show’s hiatus of more than two years. ICE is one of the most significant events in our calendars as it presents a unique opportunity to bring the industry together and to celebrate the work we do. Given Covid’s disruption to the industry, as well as the significant length of time between face-to-face networking opportunities, attending ICE was really important for us.

Our presence gave us the ability to network in-person with our clients, partners, and peers again, as well as exhibit and engage with all the new ideas, technologies and solutions that ourselves and others have developed during the pandemic.

ICE is an occasion for Sportradar to showcase our latest products and solutions from across our business, as well as new services from our digital marketing and integrity teams. It was good to be back!

What did Sportradar exhibit at the booth and what was the highlight?

At ICE, we displayed the latest developments to ad:s, our digital marketing platform, as well as the capabilities of our Managed Trading Services (MTS).

ad:s has undergone several recent additions to the product: paid social, connected TV, digital out-of-home, and native publisher products, with a paid search product in beta testing. These have been developed out of the continuing success we have experienced with our programmatic display and video advertising offering and will provide operators with a full range of options for truly optimized digital advertising campaigns.

As betting is legalised in new territories globally and new customers become available in these markets, more companies will look to capitalise on this new customer base through the most cost-efficient means, and ad:s can help to deliver this for them.

Sportradar’s Managed Trading Services is relied upon by over 200 organisations, making it a critical product for operators of all sizes, who have the option to either fully or partially outsource their sportsbook to our team of trading experts. More established operators prefer the ability to outsource part of their business and significantly improve their own trading and risk management, whereas start-ups can build their entire business in the most flexible.

MTS enables clients to improve business efficiency within today’s marketplace without spending big in expensive trading technology and capacities. By adding more and more mission-critical features, all based on the most advanced AI technology, such as real-time liability management and player profiling, bookmakers are able to reduce operational risks and costs. This helps internal teams to focus their attentions on business growth. 

After the last two years, due to the pandemic, we had to make changes and adapt both personally and professionally. How does the company face this "new normal"?

The industry relies almost exclusively on live sport and thankfully we’ve seen it return to pre-pandemic levels.

At this unprecedented time for both ourselves and the entire industry, we were conscious to be responsive to our clients’ needs. Digital transformation was essential as we adapted and pivoted our business model to diversify our offerings.

We did this in the form of building bespoke and responsive solutions, as well as creating our own content, to fill the void in our client’s coverage when there was an extended period without live sport during the height of the pandemic.

We did this organising virtual and socially distanced competitions and content that required low human interactions. This ‘redundancy content’ fed our customers’ hunger for data and allowed them to continue with some business whilst their revenue streams that relied on live sports coverage were drying up. Examples included hosting over 5000 table tennis matches in rented halls, simulating all NBA games on their respective match days and visualising them in 3D, and generating content via esports.

In fact, much of this redundancy content has continued to be popular after the industry returned pre-pandemic levels of live sports coverage. Clients continue to book coverage because the appetite is there, and the industry remains cautious in order to protect itself against any future Covid crisis moments.

This is something we’ve been conscious of the past two years and have moved to provide content for our clients through the launch of Simulated Reality, our AI driven sports betting solution.

In particular, the focus on eSports over past two years has contributed to both short term and long-term success, as it remains hugely popular.

Online gaming is becoming stronger every day worldwide. What are the opportunities that arise, what are the benefits? Do you think that online gaming could be competition for land-based gaming or a complement?

It’s important to strike a balance between both online gaming and land-based gaming providers. Not only is customer preference important but the best solutions are those that can scale across both retail and online and offer customers a seamless experience, regardless of how and where they choose to place their bets.

Data out of established betting markets as well as the US indicates the popularity of mobile and online betting is incredibly high. However, gambling tendencies in some states, as well as in Brazil and Norway, lean towards retail gaming, with most bets being placed in shops and sportsbooks. Therefore, if operators are to maximise their offerings for players, solutions that provide for both approaches are optimal.

This gradual shift to a two-pronged approach has been accelerated in part by Covid, with some betting companies moving some of their operations online during the pandemic, whilst maintaining their retail presence through the end of lockdowns.

At Sportradar, we are committed to offering omnichannel solutions that provide our customers with synergistic tools that work together and subsequently provide the consumer with a seamless user experience.

In what markets is the company already established and what are the markets it is aiming to enter soon?

As a partner to hundreds of operators within the industry, we already have a strong presence worldwide in established betting markets throughout Europe, as well as those less mature markets in the Americas.

The US will remain key to industry growth with more states set to allow sports betting in the coming 12 months and a diverse range of products and services including mobile betting and in-play betting being made available to customers. Focus Gaming News reports the state of New York alone has produced a sports betting handle of nearly $5 billion since it regulated in January, illustrating the huge demand for mobile betting. Also, with the recent legalisation of sports betting in Ontario, Canada, we expect to see the North American market as a whole grow at a significant rate.

Sportradar is well positioned across the North American market, with official partnerships with three of the leading US sports leagues - NBA, MLB and NHL. With these official data rights, Sportradar has access to the fastest, most reliable data across the most popular sports in this market, putting us at the centre of mobile and in-play betting opportunities - the largest growth sectors within US betting.

Further growth opportunities are likely to come from South America, with media reports suggesting that Brazil, Peru and other Latin American countries could open up to sports betting in the next couple of years. Should this happen, we anticipate an influx of operators moving into these territories and existing operators scaling up their operations to gain market share at a critical moment.

We’re also aware that countries including India and Japan are keeping a keen eye on progress in the US market ever since betting was legalised there in 2018.