It is key. Tere are several providers in the esports arena offering unique betting opportunities and serving them to retail operators and this is a trend I can see increasingly happening in traditional sports too.


In the US, there are some interesting overlays with live pictures such as watching the odds of a certain player in-play and I think that's a clever innovation. Maximising the user experience to bet in-play will be crucial going forwards.


Should esports have its own esportsbook?


Bang on the money. One of our projects is to build out the esports section. Should we even call it esports? If you're part of the gaming community, you might only care about CS:GO and have no interest in say Dota 2. With the pandemic, every operator saw an increase in esports activity, and this has continued. It is the third or fourth largest 'sport' for our operators depending on the region they are targeting.


People like myself have traditionally treated it


like any other sports, but I think that only works up to a point, as it may not entirely cater to the needs of the community.


Tere is an awful lot of work to be done in that area and it's something we're looking to do with one of our Asian operators to make it as exciting and authentic as possible for gamers.


If there is anyone who is an avid gamer and a product manager, we'd love to talk to them. We are keen to find someone who lives and breathes esports to take this forward because ultimately, it’s all about authenticity and I am absolutely not the best person for the job.


How does Champion Sports go on to thrive in the US?


Ideally, we’re looking for a partner to go in with. Rather than taking a 'build it and they will come' approach, we'd like to have that insurance policy of knowing we have a serious partner who is actively pursuing a licence in the market. Like everything we do, we can then customise products to be exactly what they


“The holy grail we are all striving for as operators in the industry is product differentiation and personalisation. In practice this means looking to create and serve content based at the individual player level based on their actual past behaviour, the operator’s understanding of them as a player or, if that’s not available, on players just like them.”


need to be compliant with state laws and regulations.


Tat’s how we like to operate - partner with a large, established player - and enter the market with them. It’s what we've been doing with Europe to a lesser extent. If we have an operator looking to enter a market we aren’t whitelisted for, we work with them to make sure we are.


Our primary licence is in the Isle of Man and we use BMM Testlabs for accreditation purposes both for our and our operator’s protection. America is a great market and it'll be interesting to see whether the money being spent there is sustainable.


Outside of the US, Asia is a key market in terms of the number of operators and their contribution to the business. We are also picking up operators in Europe looking to target Ireland in particular, as well as a few for Africa and South America.


NEWSWIRE / INTERACTIVE / MARKET DATA P127


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