How can a traditional bookmaker start a dialogue with Millennial eSports fans?

et’s Head of Sportsbook, Davide Ruggeri, today gave his answers.

The iGaming Super Show has planned a series of dedicated conferences for the sports betting industry and today at RAI - Conference room n.2 in Amsterdam, BtoBet led the panel “eSports: Bringing Home the Millennials”. The panel covered strategies, opportunities and the latest trends in the emerging and fast growing eSports market. Editor of iGaming Business magazine, Stephen Carter, moderated the discussion, and talked about BtoBet’s Head of Sportsbook Davide Ruggeri and Phil Kornyshey, Co-founder of PVP eSports.

Commenting on how traditional sportsbooks should look at where eSports fits in with their current offering, Davide Ruggeri said:

“Sportsbooks can create lifetime value from the Millennial customer-base that eSports attract and traditional bookmakers can start a dialogue with eSports fans in order to conquer a new slice of market. Considering eSports enthusiasts are completely different from today’s traditional sports punters, operators have to position themselves and to plan how to engage with this new promising target market. Operators can expand their businesses beyond the traditional sports betting, through suitable tools, personalised proposals and flexible software.”

When asked “How can the traditional bookmaker start a dialogue with eSports fans?” Ruggeri answered:

“He has to dedicate a special section to eSports because it is not to be treated as a traditional betting environment. The bookmaker has to be prepared for this new target, to choose friendly ways of communication, through mobile and social networks and adopt some peculiar strategies, to follow forums to understand who his target is and what they think. He has to boost his brand’s presence, write good content and helpful information and inspire to acquire credibility, to capture millennials’ interest and create positive value association with the brand. It is important to build an own style of information: concise, direct and personal, appealing and cheeky. Millennials like to feel special and appreciate fun campaigns, interesting infographics, slideshow videos, videos on social media platforms, they love information tools, Tournament Calendars and Team Statistics, insertion of news, widgets emblazoned with the team logo with a clear reference to eSports, gamified and personalised incentives. It is vital to propose those characteristics to capture the attention and interest of eSports fans”.

In another question put to Ruggeri, “Once operators get the attention of Millennials, how can technology assist operators to manage eSports bettors?” the BtoBet’s Head of Sportsbook replied:

“Operators need thinking software able to improve eSports fans’ experience by offering the type of entertainment that suites Millennials and provides operators with fitting tools to manage their business with flexibility. For example, through BtoBet’s advanced technology, we allow operators to enjoy the possibility of registering Millennials, monitoring the behaviour of each registered eSports enthusiast, and verifying their preferences while playing in order to provide automatic and personalised suggestions and rewards in line with every Millennial’s wish. We provide Omnichannel connection to give Millennials the possibility to use the product wherever they want, and at any time; our most advanced sportsbook enables the automation and customisation of offers, rewards, and bonuses; we propose most popular eSports competitions Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, Dota 2, League of Legends (LOL) and StarCraft II. BtoBet provides dedicated live streaming solutions for online and retail bookmakers to fulfill customer demand for information, betting stimulation, and match visualization. Moreover with our flexible CMS , operators are allowed to customize the eSports section, including an area with blogs and related content for millennials to swap and share ideas and opinions. BtoBet can help to operate Millennials.”

After the conference, BtoBet announced that a white paper which elaborates further on the strategies, trends and tech tools required, was available on its website.

Commenting on the rise of eSports, BtoBet’s CMO, Sabrina Solda’, said:

“BtoBet is thrilled to share the results of its wide and detailed research, conducted by its team of eSports’ experts. We are convinced that eSports has opened an entire new gambling industry and our company aims to spread useful strategies and suggestions to operators who seek to gain the interest and loyalty of Millennials.”