The virtual rising star V
irtual sports is fast becoming the hottest topic in gaming. Run as ‘quick bet’ events that are three minutes or less in duration,
operators can show back-to-back events on multiple feeds, across any channel, any time of the day. The high frequency of events on offer makes it a natural hit with players in any venue or online, because there’s always something to bet on.
Originally aimed at sportsbetting venues and websites, virtual sports were used to augment the live sportsbook offering – acting as a ‘filler’ in- between live betting events. Our early-adopter customers quickly recognised that virtual sports are popular with a wide spectrum of players and scheduling them continuously generated additional revenue, without cannibalising live sports bets.
Ten years later, lotteries and casino venues without live sportsbooks are also realising the power of rapid draw virtual sports and numbers games. Virtual sports are fun and social, and with the advancements in technology they are also increasingly realistic so players feel like they are watching the real thing.
The results speak for themselves. Virtual sports is now a multi-billion-pound market and the offering is evolving and increasing with demand. Many operators have launched bespoke virtual sports mobile apps, and are in the process of developing or implementing a true omnichannel experience to further personalize the gaming experience.
WHERE IT ALL BEGAN Just 10 years ago you would be forgiven for never
having heard of virtual sports. In the early noughties we spotted the opportunity to develop a fixed-odds virtual gaming proposition for UK bookmakers. We acquired a BAFTA award- winning graphics business and, with our experience in the UK gaming sector, we knew that we were uniquely placed to develop a product that bridged technology, entertainment and gaming. Inspired have continued to invest millions over the past decade to create the best virtuals content and software on the market. We have now spent over £1m on motion capture technology which ensures that all of our products continue to look as life-like as possible and, within our Rush Football 2 product, this is now combined with HD graphics – an industry first.
THE MARKET TODAY Virtual sports are now a proven category of sports
wagering, enjoyed by millions of players across the globe. The vast majority of sportsbetting operators, both retail and online, have some form of virtual sport or number game as part of their sportsbook offering.
Inspired now provides virtual events to land-based, online and mobile operators across 50,000 venues
1 0 2
and 300 web and mobile sites, in 35 countries - generating over $10bn of revenue per year. Our Virtuals are proven to generate around 20%-25% of incremental revenue for a race and sportsbook operators. In advanced markets, such as the UK and Italy, virtual bets are also accounting for an increasing percentage of overall bets - 10% of bets in the UK and 25% of all sports bets in Italy are now on virtual sports.
LESSONS FROM LIVE SPORTS In many markets, the popularity of particular virtual
sports mirrors the popularity of live sports. For example, horses, greyhounds and football are essential sports in many markets. In Italy, football is clearly the key revenue driver for any sportsbook, and Inspired’s Rush Football similarly takes the most bets of any virtual sport in Italy.
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112 |
Page 113 |
Page 114 |
Page 115 |
Page 116 |
Page 117 |
Page 118 |
Page 119 |
Page 120 |
Page 121 |
Page 122 |
Page 123 |
Page 124 |
Page 125 |
Page 126 |
Page 127 |
Page 128 |
Page 129 |
Page 130 |
Page 131 |
Page 132 |
Page 133 |
Page 134 |
Page 135 |
Page 136 |
Page 137 |
Page 138