Exclusive Q&A w/ Calvin Konya, Co-Founder at Linemate

Can you introduce Linemate?

In its simplest terms, Linemate is a sports betting research app. We launched it in September 2022 with the aim of making sports betting easier for everyone, especially new bettors. In the months since we launched, we’ve had over 60,000 app downloads and first-time web users worldwide, which is only continuing to grow.

What are your key goals at Linemate?

When we launched Linemate, we had two main goals. The first of these was to redefine how sports fans consume statistics and analytics. The world of statistics can be very dry, and research can be extremely time-consuming. To counter this, we have introduced visual elements, allowing customers to be able to glance at statistics and make informed decisions quickly.

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Secondly, we want to make sports betting and analytics accessible. Sports betting has become a part of the overall sports experience, and more fans are finding their way into it. When you start out, though, betting can be daunting, especially when greeted with a wave of statistics and terminology. We want to strip away the complexity and make sports betting more simple.

Your new feature, Discover, is set to launch this summer, can you tell us about it?

We’re really excited to launch Discover. We want to provide an entry point to both our app and sports betting for everyday sports fans. Discover will help guide users towards the best plays of the day. Sports fans will be able to scroll through suggested bets and plays for the day in the form of “sports cards”. All of these will be analytically backed and researched, allowing users to find the best bets for them.

Do you need to have any sports betting experience to get the best out of Linemate?

Not at all. In fact, we want to put a focus on new sports bettors. As the sports-betting market has expanded in the US and Canada, there is an automatic assumption that sports fans are adopting sports betting organically, but to many fans, it is a whole new experience.

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With Linemate, we want to introduce sports betting to fans in a fun and informed way. We believe Discover is the perfect vehicle for this. It creates an entry-level to our features and is an excellent way of introducing sports fans to the world of sports betting.

This isn’t to say that experienced bettors cannot use our app either. In fact, the bulk of our current users are experienced bettors. This shows the trust people place in our statistics and analysis.

We also wanted to make our platform free to everyone, and provides full access to our service, allowing players to access all statistics, suggested play, and other vital information for making the best bets on match day.

A premium feature is also being made available, Linemate+. This will allow players to access their suggested plays and bets even quicker, organising the user’s feed so that they see the top-ranked plays every day and creating a more curated experience. Our base service remains 100% free, ensuring none of our content will be locked away behind a paywall. Linemate+ will simply add another option for players looking for more speed.

What do you think the modern bettor is looking for in the sports betting experience?

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The sports betting experience is becoming increasingly integrated into sports, especially in the United States and Canada. Sports fans want to be able to access up-to-the-minute odds and bets as part of the game.

Betting is also more social than ever, and being one-up on your friends can be a fun part of that experience. Linemate provides sports fans with the extra knowledge they need to claim bragging rights in group chats and when they’re with their friends at the big game. Everyone loves being the first to make a major call and get it right, and Linemate can help sports fans do that by providing valuable, up-to-the-minute insights.

The days of going to a sportsbook and making a mark on a slip are long gone; bettors want to be able to pull out their phones, get the latest statistics and bets easily, and have their bets placed in a few clicks. The experience has become increasingly streamlined, and Linemate helps to make the research and statistic elements much simpler.

How essential is data to the modern sports bettor?

Sports analytics have evolved rapidly in recent years, and the need for data has never been higher. With so many betting options available, bettors want to be able to analyse different areas of play and make well-researched decisions.

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However, scrolling through all of that data can be really difficult, and knowing how to understand it all can be even more so. At Linemate, we want to make that process much easier. We want players to find well-researched and effective bits quickly and to be able to trust the recommendations and plays they are receiving.