eSports
Sergey Portnov: Perspectives & predictions
Speaking at PM:GO: In Touch with the Future, Parimatch CEO Sergey Portnov opened the floor to questions on topics ranging from why Parimatch and Conor McGregor are a great match, how to survive in a crisis, to predictions for the betting industry and sport in the wake of COVID-19. In typical fashion, Sergey spoke candidly to give the audience insights into some of the most pressing industry issues as well as his plans for Parimatch…
The esports boom
Parimatch is one of the few betting companies to have already shifted its focus to esports – and we are now looking to consolidate our position in the sector. Parimatch has a dedicated team with influential leaders responsible for our development strategy for esports. We will continue to seek out sponsorship deals in the esports sector and innovate our esports offering. The reality is that esports is here to stay and this is not just a temporary attempt to participate and jump on the hype bandwagon. Esports is in our DNA, it is our top priority.
With sports fixtures cancelled across the world, many sports fans have turned to esports, and the popularity of esports will continue perhaps even with the return of sports matches. Looking to the near future, it might be that traditional sports matches are held without crowds of people. For the betting industry, it actually doesn’t matter. We just need the match to take place and to be broadcast. Looking further ahead, there will likely be plans drawn up to avoid having to stop all sport like this again, and there will be conditions agreed for how the sport industry can continue to operate if faced with another situation like the one we’re in now.
At Parimatch, we are also considering creating our own sports, to increase the opportunities for betting and entertainment for our players. For example, we could broadcast penalties, involving just a player and a goalkeeper. During normal times, you don’t have these kinds of ideas – which is why a crisis can be an opportunity to innovate.
Emerging from a crisis stronger and faster
With sports fixtures cancelled around the world, betting companies are seeing the majority of their players fall away. The challenge is how to engage wider audiences with simulated sports – and this is a challenge shared by all bookmakers who have been affected by the COVID-19 crisis.
Some operators will withstand this crisis better than others, because they have adapted their business model, by pivoting to online casinos or adding alternative sports – such as FIFA and table tennis.
Although Parimatch has been affected, we are poised to be one of the structural winners to emerge from the crisis, as we are adapting and finding new solutions so that we remain one step ahead. In every sector, this is great time to optimize your business, identify weak spots in the company and fulfil goals that have been put off.
For me personally, I feel comfortable during a crisis, maybe because I love fighting and it has given me the fighting spirit that you need to prosper during difficult conditions. My advice to those who struggle is to always stay calm to avoid being guided by emotions and making rash decisions under pressure. A person who can distinguish between truth and artificial pressure will be right in their decisions.
Parimatch & The Notorious: A meeting of minds
Our contract with UFC was a prerequisite for Conor as our brand ambassador – and Conor is picky, he doesn’t just collaborate with any brand for money. It was our connection to UFC that initially attracted him. But why did Parimatch choose Conor? Firstly, because there a few examples of celebrities who have really changed their industry. Conor is one of those few people – he has made the UFC popular globally, bringing MMA into the mainstream. In fact, Conor is the face of MMA, and has attracted millions of fans to UFC not just because of his fighting skills, but for what he does
outside the ring. He can gather a crowd of people at a click of a finger – you could say he is a great magician! That kind of power and energy is what we wanted for our brand.
In the ring: Beating the competition
At Parimatch, we of course keep an eye on our competitors, but we mostly compete with ourselves – not on a personal level, but on a company wide scale. We are focused on meeting our own goals, and not trying to copy competitor products, no matter how great they are. We know our weaknesses as a business and we know how to fight them.
For Parimatch, the main priority is solidifying our position as a technology company. Already 99.9% of our business operates online and 70% of it is mobile based. However, we want to become a leading technology business, and not just within the betting sector. We want to be a role model for related industries. We know this may take a few years, but we are confident that we will do it – and will become one of the very few betting companies to have made a major technology breakthrough.
eSports
IESF Concludes 16th Ordinary General Meeting in Riyadh
The International Esports Federation (IESF) held its 16th Ordinary General Meeting (OGM) on November 18, bringing together over 150 delegates from the member federations in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Before the official start of the assembly, IESF welcomed representatives from the Saudi Olympic & Paralympic Committee (SOPC) and the Esports World Cup Foundation (EWCF). Abdulaziz Baeshin, CEO of SOPC presented Saudi Arabia’s progress in Esports and sports development and their vision moving forward. Frank Weber, Director of Corporate Marketing at EWCF discussed the success of the EWCF and highlight upcoming plans for the future.
In his opening speech, IESF President HRH Prince Faisal bin Bandar bin Sultan Al Saud expressed gratitude for the number of delegates who attended the assembly. He reflected on the federation’s success and achievements over the past year, the key areas for improvement, and the necessity of continued close collaboration among members.
The first session of the assembly continued with reviewing motions submitted by the members and voting on their acceptance or rejection. The members also voted to grant Full Membership status to Canada, Germany, Latvia, and Malta.
The second session of the OGM was dedicated to electing key positions within the IESF Board and committees. The results are:
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Board Member: Mr. Samart Benjamin Assarasakorn
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Treasurer: Mr. Daniel Wen Jun Loy
Membership Committee Members:
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Mr. Soufiane El Filali
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Mr. Jaroslav Melishek
Audit, Risk, and Governance Committee:
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Chair: Mr. Tomas Gabris
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Members: Mr. Jacopo Ierussi and Mr. Stevan Nenad Rosic
Regulatory Committee Chair:
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Mr. Ido Orel Brosh
In his concluding statement, IESF General Secretary Boban Totovski congratulated the assembly on a productive and democratic meeting. He expressed his appreciation for the valuable insights shared by members and their dedication to the growth of the IESF.
“This year’s assembly demonstrated the strength of our community and the shared vision that drives IESF forward. I thank everyone for their contributions to a democratic and smooth process, and I look forward to welcoming more member federations to our family next year and even greater success” said Totovski.
The OGM 2024 in Riyadh was another step forward in IESF’s mission to unite the Esports world under a shared vision. With the growing number of national federations, the IESF continues to cement its role as the largest Esports family.
The post IESF Concludes 16th Ordinary General Meeting in Riyadh appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.
Chad Kinlay Chief Marketing Officer TrafficGuard
Influencers, Content and eSports: Unleashing the Power of Dynamic Strategies in the eSports Ecosystem
The sports betting industry is undergoing significant growth worldwide with restrictions loosening and new markets emerging. New opportunities create fierce competition among sportsbooks, and this has led to them devising increasingly expensive and aggressive advertising campaigns.
Public figures and influencers have become a popular go-to for sportsbooks promotions, such as Michael Jordan partnering with DraftKings or Jamie Foxx with BetMGM. Big names are costly, and sportsbooks haven’t realised the ad spend used on these campaigns is going to waste. Without the right precautions in place, up to 22% of ad spend is lost to fraud according to Juniper Research.
The big budgets behind high-profile brand campaigns need to translate into real user engagement. To achieve this, sportsbooks must ensure their digital channels are optimised to capture the surge in interest these campaigns generate. Without proper management, this potential can be lost to inefficiencies like invalid traffic, diluting the impact of their investments.
Ad Budgets Going to Waste
In today’s competitive landscape, sportsbooks need to make every click count. In 2023 alone, The American Gaming Association estimated that over $1.9 billion was spent on advertising campaigns in the US. With such a large amount of spend in play, it’s crucial that sportsbooks see as big a Return on Advertising Spend (ROAS) as possible.
Pay-Per-Click (PPC) campaigns are vital for sportsbook growth but can be disrupted by invalid traffic (IVT). IVT includes both malicious activity, like fraudulent bots, and unintentional actions, such as users repeatedly clicking on ads without intent to convert. These interactions inflate impressions and skew campaign performance data, leading to higher customer acquisition costs (CACs) and inefficient allocation of ad spend. Effectively managing IVT ensures that ad budgets drive genuine engagement and measurable growth.
Investing into influencers and celebrities also forces sportsbooks to bid on brand keywords to prevent their competitors stealing potential users searching for them. Up to 29% of PPC budgets are spent on this bidding according to Wordstream. As competition for brand keywords increases, PPC budgets are depleted without generating any new net revenue.
As campaigns become more expensive than ever, sportsbooks can’t afford to let profits fall to ad fraud. Instead of cutting budgets, sportsbooks should focus on analysing their campaign strategy.
Problematic Navigational Traffic
Navigational traffic is also presenting a significant challenge to sportsbooks alongside ad fraud. Navigational traffic refers to existing customers clicking on branded keywords to log into their accounts. While this seems convenient and harmless enough, this behaviour drastically inflates CACs. Like ad fraud, this can skew the effectiveness of PPC campaigns. By utilising paid search results instead of organic links to navigate to the site, costs are driven up without contributing to new user acquisition.
In addition to the challenges posed by navigational traffic and ad fraud, the competitive landscape for first-time depositors intensifies the need for strategic bidding on Google search. Brands investing heavily in influencers or sponsorships of major sporting events to generate awareness and drive potential users to search for them. However, without securing top placements in paid search results, these prospective customers may be intercepted by competitors before reaching the organic search listings. This creates a critical juncture where the effectiveness of a brand campaign hinges on converting that intent-driven traffic into first-time depositors, ensuring marketing spend achieves its goal of meaningful user acquisition.
First-time depositors are a critical metric for sportsbooks, and this issue directly impacts the cost efficiency of acquiring them. High CACs make marketing budgets less effective, reducing overall ROI.
Shoring Up Your Defences
Before launching costly ad campaigns, sportsbooks should adopt a multi-faceted approach to address ad fraud. IVT typically goes unnoticed, so to prevent this sportsbooks should monitor and analyse their campaign traffic for any suspicious activity. It is possible to identify IVT by looking out for signs such as irregular spikes in traffic from unknown locations or high pageviews. Fraudulent traffic can then by highlighted and removed.
The advancement of technology has made ad fraud more difficult to identify, and legacy fraud tools fail to detect IVT. They don’t analyse traffic at the impression level or consider the context of the business advertising. Sportsbooks can leverage ad-verification platforms to compensate for this. This allows sportsbooks to analyse and report suspicious traffic in real-time. Fraud can then be blocked before it has a chance to harm budgets.
Sportsbooks can also deploy tactics to reduce the impact of navigational traffic on CACs. Methods include encouraging existing customers to use mobile apps or direct bookmarks to log into their accounts instead of paid search campaigns. This decreases their reliance on PPC campaigns for navigation and protects budgets.
Keeping Profits in Sportsbooks’ Hands
Influencer and celebrity campaigns have proven to be a popular and useful tool in reeling new users and profits. However, if sportsbooks don’t have the essential precautions in place, they risk losing these profits to advertising fraud.
To make the most of their advertising efforts, sportsbooks need to prioritise their traffic. Implementing sophisticated tools to analyse traffic and filter out fraud will allow sportsbooks to protect their interests and focus on driving future growth. This way, they can secure their position in an increasingly competitive landscape.
Written by: Chad Kinlay, Chief Marketing Officer, TrafficGuard
A driven, open-minded, creative senior marketer with a strong sense of dedication and commitment. With over 15 years of progressive international experience in marketing and communications management, Kinlay has a credible history of commercial success.
Asia
8Bit Creatives partners with NODWIN Gaming as the exclusive talent partner for DreamHack India
8Bit Creatives, India’s leading esports consulting and talent management agency, has announced its partnership with NODWIN Gaming, a leader in new-age youth entertainment, gaming, and esports, as the exclusive Talent Partner for DreamHack India 2024.
With this partnership, 8Bit Creatives will leverage its significant reach in the Indian gaming, esports and youth communities through its prominent and talented roster of creators. These creators will create content leading up to the festival and also host meet-and-greet sessions.
India’s biggest gaming festival, DreamHack India, is set to take place from 15th to 17th November at the Hitex Exhibition Centre in Hyderabad, marking its fifth edition. For half a decade, the India edition of the global festival has become one of the most anticipated events of the Indian gaming ecosystem. Bringing together a plethora of events, including esports tournaments, BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) events, cosplay competitions, music concerts, and stand-up comedy, DreamHack India is the celebration of gaming, esports, pop-culture, and entertainment.
8Bit Creatives, CEO and founder Animesh Agarwal said “DreamHack India is one of the most prominent events in the Indian gaming and esports calendar and we’re proud to be the exclusive talent partners for it. This is further recognition of 8Bit Creatives’ ability to meaningfully engage the gaming and youth audiences across the country. Our belief in working with the right creators who create experiences that resonate with the youth audiences distinguishes our offerings and we can’t wait to share what we have in store for DreamHack India 2024 with our audiences!”
This is not the first time that 8Bit Creatives will partner with DreamHack India. The organisation was also the talent partner for the event in 2022.
Commenting on the partnership, NODWIN Gaming, Co-founder and MD Akshat Rathee said “Our vision at NODWIN Gaming is to create unforgettable experiences for the youth, and DreamHack has proven to be the ultimate platform to realise that vision, bringing together gaming, entertainment, and community in an immersive celebration. We’re thrilled to have 8Bit Creatives as our exclusive Talent Partner for DreamHack India 2024. It’s especially exciting to welcome iconic creators like Mortal, who joined us in our very first edition, back for this landmark fifth year, alongside fan favourites like Snax, Kaashvi, Thug, and Payal. These creators bring a unique energy that connects deeply with our fans and elevates every moment. Their presence underscores our commitment to crafting electrifying experiences year after year, building on the momentum of events like BGMS and past DreamHack editions. Together with 8Bit and this powerhouse lineup, we’re setting the stage for an unforgettable event that will bring fans and creators closer than ever before!”
8Bit Creatives’s content and esports division S8UL became the only organisation in the year to win ‘Content Group of the Year’ award for the third consecutive year at the Esports Awards 2024. Additionally, they are the only organisation from India to ever win an Esports Award in any category. Earlier this year, gaming content creators from 8Bit Creatives including Naman Mathur, Payal Dhare and Animesh “Thug” Agarwal were invited for a meet and greet session with the honourable Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi.
The organisation has been at the forefront of India’s gaming and content ecosystem with its extensive range of services, including talent management, campaign curation and execution, brand activations and more.
The post 8Bit Creatives partners with NODWIN Gaming as the exclusive talent partner for DreamHack India appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.
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