GPWA Times Magazine - Issue 13 - June 2010

Totesport the World Cup is the number one event this year with Cheltenham a close second. Obviously we have a close affinitywithCheltenham. It iswhatTotes- port hasbeenall about since 1928. Butwe are engaging more and more with other sports.Weareno longer just about racing but football, golf and cricket, too. How will you use the World Cup to generate traffic? Dean: We like to keep our cards close to our chest on thesematters, only tellingaf- filiates and customers alike whenwe feel the time is right.Obviouslywewill begiv- ing affiliates enough time to add the con- tent to their sites so there is no need to worryon that front. Wecanappreciatethat.Whataboutyou, Matija?Canyousharewithushowyou’ll promote theevent? Matija: Iwill createspecial sectionsdedi- cated to theWorldCup. Therewill bea lot of previews, statistics and forum posts. CPC advertising helps a lot and I will use that for at least twomonths – themonth before theevent andduringevent. How popular are the competition or prize pool contests? Do they help you convert smaller or more casual players intomore regularplayers? Matija: Tipster competition with money prizes isthecoreofmysites.It isagreatcon- vertertooland ifyouare fairtoyourplayers, they tend to stick to your project. Competi- tions are very popular since they are fun, tenseanduserscanget some freecash. Dean: I must admit, I am not a fan of competitions to gain acquisition or assist in conversions. They are more of a fun diversion for users. Having managed the partnershipbetweenoneofEngland’sbig- gest Premier League football teams and an online betting company I have been in the position of relying on competitions to driveacquisitionand it just didn’twork in thatparticularcase.Season tickets, signed shirts, even the chance to play at the ground were popular competitions, but did little in termsof generating traffic. Do punters who don’t typically bet on football – or any other sports – decide to specifically bet on theWorld Cup? If so, do these new players typically con- vert into full-timeplayers? Matija: This is really a good question. I would think that people that are not yet betting online but are placing some bets in local betting shops are likely tobecome online players with good signup bonuses during theWordCup. Doyouagree,Dean? Dean: Yes. Usually a customer whose bettingprofile seems tobeconsistentwith horse racing betting, for example, will havea small flutter on theWorldCup. Matija: Online betting still has a lot of room to grow and from my experience whenyour friends start toplayonlineyou follow. It is as simple as that. I placedmy first online bet in2000 andneverwalked intoanotherbetting shopagain. Dean: Yes, it’smore of an interest thing. They will be subjected to watching the matches either at home or down the pub sohavinga small bet helpskeep interest. Matija: Some people are still reluctant to play online; it looks too complicated to them–butwithanewgenerationof play- ers comingup that are tech savvy, it is the fastest-growingonline industry.Wemight see somepeople thatneverused tobetbe- comeplayers, but thosenumbers couldbe short term – during the event and never again. On the other hand, there will be people that will start their betting career during theWorldCupandcontinue tobet. It is hard to say, but numbers of signups and first-timedepositswill increase. What’s more popular: “To-win” bets before the World Cup begins, or the single-gamebetting? Dean: Outright betting will be our most popularmarket, by far. Matija: I also expect to see a lot of live bettingduring this year’sWorldCup. At what point of theWorld Cup do you get themost traffic? Dean: Immediately prior to the World Cup commencingand just beforeEngland games. Being aU.K. company the bulk of ourbase is from theU.K. and so theyhave ahuge interest in thehome team. Matija: My best time will be at the very start,when therearea lotof gamesandall countries are still in thegame. Let’smove away from thebusiness side of things and talk to you both as fans. How closelydoyou follow the sportand whoareyour favorite teams? Dean: I love the World Cup. Racing is great and I enjoy playing golf regularly, but nothing comes close to football, es- pecially the World Cup. Obviously Eng- land is my team and I hope they do well this year, but I have my doubts. Secretly I followSpain, too. Being aLiverpool fan, their team of a few years ago consisted of Reina, Arbeloa, Alonso, Torres and Reira so I thinkdeepdown,mostLiverpool fans will bekeepinganeyeonhow theSpanish teamdoes. Matija: I follow the World Cup from Game 1 all theway until the very end.My favorite team is Croatia, but since they are not going, I will support Netherlands, SpainandEngland. Before we let you go, can you pull out your crystal ball and give us some predictions? Matija: I think Serbia could pull off very good results; theyhave an excellent team. AndasalwaysGermany,Brazil,Argentina and Italyare tobe lookedafter. Dean: No surprise for my teams to beat – Spain and Brazil. Brazil quietly went about their business during qualifying, swapping flair for grit and dynamism whilst Spainhas the best set of individual players compared toanyother team. 21 The GPWA TimesMagazineWorld Cup Round Table