GPWA Times Magazine - Issue 34 - February 2016

ganizer of the Women’s World Cup) to maximize its profits and capitalize on all opportunities such an event boasts. Women’s sports – Establishing a basis for success Keeping those facts in mind, the bet-at- home.com figures for the Women’s World Cup promise plenty of potential for growth. But how can the industry unlock this potential? Undoubtedly, there is room for improve- ment on the side of the bookmakers. Bookies often consider women’s sports a niche area. For this reason, they only provide a few betting opportunities and promotions for big events in women’s sports. According to the latest TV ratings, however, attention toward this “niche” has been growing rapidly over the last few years. In 2011, the Women’s World Cup in Germany marked a new ratings record for women’s sports. However, this record was beaten just this year at the World Cup in Canada, in spite of a six-hour time dif- ferential. The TV ratings in Japan for the semifinal in 2015 doubled compared to the ratings in 2011. According to statistics from the American broadcast television network FOX, the USA achieved the high- est TV rating ever for a football match in the final, with the 25.4 million viewers eas- ily eclipsing the 18.2 million that watched the USA-Portugal men’s match in 2014. France, Brazil, Norway and Australia have also reported new records for TV ratings. In general, bookmakers need to provide more opportunities for betting on women’s sports, while affiliates need to supply more information about such events to their us- ers. Betting providers can focus attention on big tournaments by offering specially tailored promotions and bonuses that not only raise awareness but also sharpen the desire to bet on those events. To provide such promotions and bonuses, bookmak- ers require the help of their affiliates as a communication channel. Consequently, success depends on effective cooperation between bookmakers and their affiliates. If the affiliates raise awareness for women’s sports among their users, bookmakers will be able to offer special promotions for those users, and vice versa. An opportunity for growth For bookmakers to attract punters to place wagers on women’s sports, it is vital that affiliates raise awareness for these sports. The easiest approach would be to use cus- tomized, women’s-sports-specific ban- ners with links to women’s sports events and to provide users with the appropriate content. But a lot more can be done in this respect. Focusing attention on women’s sports during important events by pro- viding sections on the webpage with in- formation on the tournaments, the teams, the favorites, teams with great potential value, or players who can turn a match around would be a great start. Furthermore, SEO and Google AdWords are key sources of traffic for affiliates. If you want to reach organic rankings on women’s-sports-related keywords, ex- tending SEO efforts into women’s sports might lead to great success. Show your customers and users that women’s sports offer the same possibilities for betting, the same level of excitement, and sometimes even better odds. Looking at the bet-at-home.com figures for the Women’s World Cup 2015 in Canada shows a great opportunity for affiliates to grow in this “niche” market. Naturally, sports betting is a competitive market. Affiliates who focus on a market with so much potential will have an op- portunity to grow and make extra profit. Olympic Summer Games 2016 – Setting the benchmark If you still think that women’s sports will never draw as much interest as men’s sports, don’t forget that there are already some sports where male and fe- male tournaments get nearly the same level of attention in terms of placed bets and deposited money. The best example of this is tennis, where we see almost the same amount deposited on the men and the women. Another good example is al- pine skiing. In Austria, for example, Anna Fenninger is as popular and important as Marcel Hirscher. In the USA, Lindsey Vonn and Ted Ligety share the same level of popularity, as well. This summer, the Olympic Summer Games will take place in Rio right after the EURO 2016, offering a perfect opportuni- ty to promote bets during the otherwise low summertime. Focus on the women of the Olympic Games and test how much customer interest you can generate. This way, you can not only make some extra profit in August 2016, but you’ll also have a great opportunity to observe how you can influence the betting behavior of your users. Consider the Olympic Games a rehearsal for the next big women’s foot- ball tournament. You can then use ev- erything you’ve learned for the UEFA Women’s EURO, which will be held in the Netherlands in summer 2017. Adapting websites and targeting women is likely the wrong approach for affiliates. A more profitable solution would be to raise men’s awareness of women’s sports, which are gaining more attention worldwide.” Stefanie Stich is an affiliate manager at bet-at-home.com and responsible for new partnerships and exter- nal communications. She is interested in sports and is always keeping track of the latest inter- national sports events. Contact her at stich@bet-at-home.com . 15 Place your bets on the future of women’s sports