THE FUTURE OF SOCCER BETTING:
SUPERCHARGING GROWTH THROUGH TECHNOLOGY AND INNOVATION
Te filling-in-the-sandwich session explored how betting is entering a new era defined by faster technology, changing fan behaviour, and a wave of innovation challenging operators to rethink how they connect with customers. Moderator Katie Renton brought together Dan Barrett, Ifran Parvez and Darren Small to discuss how the industry can maintain momentum and build the next generation of football wagering experiences.
From the outset, the panel agreed on one foundational truth: football is and remains the heartbeat of global sports betting.
“Pretty much every major innovation in the last 20 years from in-play to cash-out to bet builder started with football first,” Parvez noted, pointing to the sport’s unique ability to drive product evolution and user engagement. For LiveScore, this is especially clear: its app funnels enormous traffic directly into football content every night.
Sportradar’s perspective reinforces this scale, with Small revealing that they cover more than 150,000 soccer events annually, a staggering volume that cements football as “absolutely the biggest betting sport globally.”
Te conversation turned to engagement - a theme that threaded through the entire session. Barrett described the transformation of betting activity over the last decade, shifting from static bets like first goalscorer or win-draw-win to dynamic, evolving engagements that keep customers involved throughout the full 90 minutes.
He noted that features like in-play betting and mechanics such as Super Sub “keep the bet alive longer,” giving users more reasons to stay active as the match unfolds.
Parvez went deeper, arguing that the shift in fan behaviour is reshaping what the product must become. “Fans are less concerned about matches and more about moments; less about teams and more about individual players,” he said. Tis shift demands markets that mirror how people now consume
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the sport: quickly, contextually and often centred around micro-events rather than outcomes. Technology sits at the core of that transformation.
Parvez pointed out that the industry has historically flooded customers with every market at once, creating overwhelming and cluttered interfaces. Now, with advances in personalisation, operators can finally deliver cleaner, more intuitive journeys. “Technology allows us to make experiences more relevant, more contextual. Personalisation isn’t just showing me more of what I want, it’s removing everything that isn’t,” he explained.
Small echoed the sentiment, highlighting Sportradar’s pivot from pure margin optimisation to a focus on better-quality business: “It’s no longer just about winning more money, it’s about winning better money, in a better way.” AI-driven profiling, real-time modelling of volatility, and more adaptive risk tools are enabling smarter decisions and more responsive products.
Meanwhile, Barrett emphasised how personalisation also plays out in retail. Paddy Power has taken localisation to the shop floor - decorating stores in club colours, offering site- specific promotions, and creating what he described as “club shops” to appeal directly to local fan communities.
In-play betting dominated the next part of the discussion, with all three panellists identifying it as the industry’s most promising growth frontier:
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