The future of in-play betting
Technological advancements in the world of betting
We live in a world where Amazon, with extreme accuracy, can predict which book choices to offer its customers based on their browsing history. Advertisers are placing specific offers based on the same browsing history, and Uber is more of a data company than it is a taxi one.
This is why it should not be a surprise in which direction betting, especially in-play betting should be and is heading and we have technology to thank for it. The key to it is the processing power cloud computing has provided. Operators are now more capable than ever before to use the data at their disposal to help inform their players of the offers that interest them. It is one of the key components for the development of the in-play offering from the very near future since it allows increasingly complex operations.
With the technological advancement operators are now capable of offering odds on any match, to any player at all times. As we are closing in towards the development and implementation of artificial intelligence, the trading rooms of the past have been replaced with fully-automated systems based on complex algorithms that are the source of their power.
The golden age of In-play betting
While we are walking through the second age of in-play betting where the offer is getting tailored to each players’ personal needs, there is a need to push even more towards AI, as it is the only step forward. The more-is-more era where piling more and more matches in front of the players is flawed, and if you can’t filter which matches to show first, too many bets are lost because of the resilience the players have towards searching for the right ones.
The marketing department is the area of development which will lead to greater satisfaction for both players and operators. The recommendation engine available now enables marketers to have a full scope of the player base and segment out players based on their previous behaviour. Then, these segments based on current player actions will be offered different bets in order to maximise the satisfaction with the offer.
With the tools available today, AI already plays a large role in player management, acquisition and retention. The biggest operators, by analysing the past behaviour of each individual player, have the tools to predict when to advertise which bets so they maximize the levels of play. Very soon they will be able to offer individually based odds to each player so they maximize the level of play even more.
In this second age of in-play betting, it is important how it interacts with the omnichannel. Since it needs to be multidimensional, not only linear – it needs to happen in an omnichannel environment. This will be of great interest to the operators of sports-betting facilities both land-based and online over the next few years. Most operators already have, and others are soon to realise how important it is to offer the same quality of service via every channel and follow your players whichever channels they may use in order to truly get to know and impress them.
The direction technology and sports betting is heading
The challenges ahead are not just of technological nature. The direction of the evolution of technology plays a big role as well. Virtual assistants such as Siri and Alexa are bringing changes. Evolution is inevitable in sports betting as well, and the most forward-thinking operators are accepting virtual assistants like S1mOne the fully customisable one BtoBet offers its clients. The direction of change is not the only important thing, as there will be increasing data protection issues when all data goes digital. All of this without losing sight of the customers, and keeping their needs in the number one position.
Regardless of all the technological advancements, there would be no in-play evolution needs if the players did not demand it. So much depends on the player enthusiasm and the degree to which the in-play revolution changed public perception of betting and the success of the product cannot be overstated.
We are sure there are innovations around every corner, ones that will change the world as we know it. The power of AI has such game-changing proportions that will bring the customer experience to a whole new level and will be a huge step forward when it comes to online gambling. This means that the evolution of in-play gaming, even though currently offering thousands of wagering offers is only just beginning.