22 B 2 B Essential Guide to ... EiG JENNINGSBET


Jenningsbet hits terminal velocity for live betting


One of the biggest independents in the country, Jenningsbet, has decided to offer live betting terminals across its estate. Co-owner Greg Knight explains why he has made the move.


H


ow have your customers taken to the self service betting termi- nals?


It’s a bit hit and miss at the mo-


ment. It’s very popular in some shops, es- pecially inner city locations where the cus- tomer base is from a large ethnic mix - es- pecially Eastern Europe. In other areas, perhaps less urban, it has been much slow- er to take off


Have you done any specific promotion around them? We have a dedicated team who are now vis- iting those branches with BGT educating staff and customers alike. We are giving away free bets to encourage new business


Have they been particularly popular with any sport?


Foreign football is by far the biggest mar- ket for us. We have taken the option not to


GAMBLINGDATA Horseracing made ‘irrelevant’ by live betting


GamblingData’s In-Play Betting Report, put together in association with Sporting Solutions, contains some interesting comments from the industry’s great and good.


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ive betting has been a ‘leveller’ in terms of sports and ‘makes horseracing irrele- vant’ according to Investec analyst Paul Leyland. “The nature of bookmaking has changed, and the pace of change has been dramatic.”


Leyland makes the comments in Gam- blingData’s In-Play Betting Report and he is not alone in talking up the dramatic impact that live betting has had on the bookmaking industry. Nick Batram at Peel Hunt also be- lieves it is a long term product. “People like to bet on sporting events, and it does look like in-play is incremental. I would say at the moment in-play is more for the experienced sports bettors. But it is defi- nitely here to stay,” he said.


Leyland warned that there is a danger in operators pumping too much money too quickly into live betting, suggesting that there should be a balanced approach to its in-play product. “There must be an optimal point,” he is reported as saying, “but general- ly, the more markets, the more products,


said. “There is a problem when there is tough or tougher regulation. How do you in- novate? Again, be careful what you wish for. Those that do regulate in-play may demand much more investment in infrastructure as they look to control it.” Sporting Index CEO Warren Murphy be-


then the more betting will take place.” James Hollins, analyst at Evolution, added that more markets could provide a competitive advantage, if little else. “Obvi- ously, the majority of money is bet on only a few markets, but having more markets available can set you apart from your com- petitors. If you have the systems in place to offer more markets, then it is great PR.” Leyland has badged live betting as ‘princi- pally a dotcom product’ and warned that new laws could still put a crimp in its suc- cess. “Regulation can apply a brake,” he


lieves that live betting is just another tech- nological development in a quick-to-adapt market. “When betting was all pre-match, punters and operators didn’t need to be able to transact in real time. Now, betting oppor- tunities come thick and fast during the course of any given sports event, and pun- ters want to be able to react accordingly. “That means a rapidly increasing volume


of bets being placed by mobile devices (be they phones or tablets). We are quickly mov- ing from the era of sports betting being driv- en by desktop internet to one being driven by the mobile internet. And, as with each new technological advancement, this revo- lution in behaviour is likely to take place faster than previous changes.”


have horses or greyhounds on the termi- nals because we believe that would detract from our OTC business. 99 per cent of what we take is on markets we did not previous- ly offer.


Are terminals the best way of taking in- runnning bets? What alternatives have you tried? Yes, undoubtably. We also provide in run- ning betting via our screens as is now stan- dard but this is a better in running medium


Is in-running the future of OTC in LBOs? I think we need to vastly improve the tech- nology involved in displaying in running prices and accepting bets. In all LBOs at present the screens can only show one or two in running markets and the customers are not particularly keen. We had very high hopes for last year’s World Cup in running but it proved to be quite disappointing. The


BGT terminals are quick and easy to use and offer an extensive range of markets. The margins are good on the foreign mar- kets but the margins on in running, in gen- eral, are terrible! That’s the problem with it as a growing betting product - it’s very hard to make money from.


And is it the future for Jenningsbet shops? We were the first to trial the BGT machines in the UK; in one particular location we now have five terminals to cater for de- mand – incidentally, in a shop which is not particularly busy. In others we have re- moved them because of lack of demand. However, we have recently taken the deci- sion to roll them out across all 95 shops. We believe the fact that other bigger chains in- stalling them can only be beneficial to us. It means customers become familiar with them and they become an instantly recog- nisable part of the betting mix.


BettingBusinessInteractive • NOVEMBER 2011 Live betting WILLIAM HILL


Hills feeling benefit from in-play innovation


William Hill says it’s put ‘a lot of brainpower’ into live betting - which is being reflected in year over year growth of 95 per cent.


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n its latest third quarter results, William Hill has experienced further growth in online


net revenue, most of which has been achieved thanks to the performance of live betting. Neil Cooper, William Hill’s group fi- nance director, commented: “In Online a 200 basis point swing in the Sportsbook margin meant the strong stake in growth translated to a 17 per cent increase in Sportsbook net revenue. Within this category, in-play turnover was up 61 per cent, and pre-match was up 46 per cent. This now makes in-play around 40 per cent of turnover, or 60 per cent if you exclude horse racing.” Cooper was more effusive at the firm’s in-


terim results this summer, when in-play wa- gering achieved year over year growth of 95 per cent, ‘benefiting from the very competi- tive football products and from continued in- play innovation’.


He said: “For example, a basketball model


was launched around the start of the year and ice hockey has been launched in the first half of 2011. Existing football and tennis models have also been further enhanced. In-play wa- gering made up 43 per cent of the total in the first half of ‘11, up from around one third in ‘10 over the same period. If you strip out horse racing, in-play now accounts for 63 per cent of sportsbook wagering.” Chief executive Ralph Topping was also


keen at the interim presentation to underline that it wasn’t all just about football. “Tennis is our second-largest in-play product,” he said. “This year we were the only bookmaker offer- ing point-by-point betting on every game at Wimbledon. Our number of bets is up 81 per cent and our gross win is up 57 per cent. Bas- ketball may be much smaller but it shows what can be achieved when we transform our in-play product. We launched our new model at the back end of last year - in the first half, bets are up 208 per cent. Our turnover is up 196 per cent and gross win is up 582 per cent. The same combination as with football; bet- ter turnover, good margin, giving good gross win growth. We’re just past the halfway mark. “Think about it, that already our gross win


in football and tennis in-play has almost matched the whole of last year. Halfway matches the whole of last year. In basketball, it’s miles ahead. Now, we’ve put a lot of brain- power into in-play betting. It’s beginning to pay off and there’s much more to come.”


NEIL COOPER: ‘IN- PLAY AROUND 40 PER CENT OF TURNOVER’


ACTION IMAGES / JULIAN HERBERT LIVEPIC


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