What opportunities does the upcoming World Cup present in the sports betting industry?


Sports, especially football, have a real power to unite and bring people together. And the World Cup, which does not happen every year and football fans have been waiting for such an event for four years, is more like a holiday. Tat is why such a big sports event cannot leave sports fans indifferent, nor any business related to sports.


Tat is why this period is already proving to be extremely busy for us. Creating promotional materials, improving the back-end platforms, managing the increased volume of transactions – all of those will be coming to the industry again and will keep everyone busy.


Marketing expenditures are already increasing as operators are determined to acquire new customers, and this is the right time to do it. With the World Cup being held in Qatar, both Asian and European operators will benefit the most from the convenient schedule and attract a larger number of players.


However, the World Cup tournament presents opportunities not only for sports betting. It can allow sportsbook operators to grow their operations by leveraging online casinos by converting a portion of the bets towards those products and keeping players on their sites during the World Cup.


We already have several products featuring football-themed slot games, which will present a cross-selling opportunity for our partners. Te operators should also realise that while these types of short-term spikes in profits are a definite advantage, they would need to retain the newly acquired players once the tournament is over.


Do you anticipate greater betting engagement rates than Russia four years ago?


It is a tough question. Tere are some uncertain factors on a global scale. However, Qatar 2022 will be a mega event in the world of sports as Qatar is the first Arab nation to host the World Cup.


Qatar is also a technology-rich nation with one of the world’s highest internet broadband penetrations of 99 per cent. I think that in terms of player engagement, it may very well be extremely popular and attractive around the globe.


How have operator partners approached the winter tournament differently from a traditional summer event? What have been the biggest hurdles with the different timing?


Te World Cup is such a big festival in the world of sports that neither the region, the weather, nor religious or political differences can prevent people from coming together and fully feeling the spirit of unity of the holiday and sports.


Tis year, the tournament takes place in November and December, in the middle of many championships and competitions, such as the NBA, NFL and NHL, which means that


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this World Cup? Are we likely to see a greater focus on outright betting or bet builders?


Taking into consideration the global popularity of the World Cup, players will be inclined to place bets on the outrights, especially in determining the final winner of the World Cup.


Anna Poghosyan Head of Business Development, BetConstruct


We already have several


products featuring football- themed slot games, which will present a cross-selling opportunity for our partners. The operators should also


realise that while these types of short-term spikes in profits are a definite advantage, they would need to retain the newly acquired players once the tournament is over.


for the tournament, and many businesses associated with it, it is a new challenge and a new opportunity to review the sports world, business prospects and new opportunities.


Tis could help some operators get new players and turn them into a World Cup tournament. Besides, teams from all of the sports betting emerging markets are in – Canada, Brazil, the USA, Germany and many others. Tis might potentially help to acquire new players for other tournaments.


How will this affect stateside betting on the tournament?


Te US team qualifying will help with raising the profile of the World Cup for sure and although football/soccer has a long way to go to compete with the traditional US sports it is sure to help. Even if traditional US sports bettors have little interest in the World Cup from a betting perspective there is sure to be some form of an increase in turnover.


Te tournament starts in November and will encounter stricter ‘competition’ for players. Te NFL and NBA will be in full swing, not to mention many basketball and ice hockey competitions. It is difficult to predict exactly how it will affect the overall dynamics.


Tis might help some operators acquire new players and convert them to the World Cup tournament. Also with innovative player engagement, and the new products that we offer for the World Cup season, we do believe that operators will have a chance to acquire more players.


What betting trends are you anticipating for


However, whilst outright betting is popular and can give players a team, or a specific bet, to cheer for the whole tournament, individual match betting will be much more popular.


As a provider to bookmakers in many different regions, there are different player styles geographically which can be very different and our sportsbook will be able to match all these needs. Some operators might see large single bets on a game-by-game basis, while others will experience multiple bets across all the games daily. Our recently launched BetBuilder solution is sure to be popular as players look to bunch any match views together into one bet.


In addition, events such as yellow cards, red cards, corners, and offsides will be also traditionally popular during the tournament. Players might also focus on some special exotic bets, as bookmakers tend to innovate during major tournaments, although the overall turnover from these types of markets will most likely not be high.


What features, products and innovations have you lined up to coincide with the World Cup?


Tis year was all aimed towards the biggest football tournament. Our newly rolled-out BetBuilder is a welcome addition to our sportsbook offering for the World Cup and will give our partner players another way to enjoy each game. We will continue to offer as many markets as possible per game within our sportsbook to give players many more choices.


Overall, combining our custom-tailored features such as the World Cup dedicated landing page, tournaments, and custom-built casino products with a World Cup theme; together with 24/7, real-time human support creates a unique football package for the season.


Whilst the group stage draw didn't pull up any trees, four matches per day offer plenty of scope for recurring daily betting. How are operators looking to draw players in as the tournament kicks off? Are promotions and FTP games top of mind?


Free-To-Play games and promotions such as 'Leaderboards' and tournament-long competitions are a great way to keep players engaged daily. Here at BetConstruct, we give our partners the options and tools required to match their marketing, CRM, and promotional needs. With multiple games, most days many partners may offer enhanced accumulator or multiple odds or use tools such as our 'Multiple of Te Day' to boost winning amounts.


Finally, your pick of this year's winner…


I usually follow the UK teams, but this year I believe Brazil might be the team to do it again and take the Cup home.


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