GPWA Times Magazine - Issue 40- February 2018

In addition, Mattbar always tries to send players to sports- books with more depth, features and long-term value rather than “smaller betting sites,” even if the deal isn’t as lucrative. “In the long term, it is better to earn for multiple weeks at 30% than a one-off bet at 50%,” he says. Once a player is turned over to the operator, Kounelakis says a number of vital strategies are em- ployed to keep the new account thirsty for action, including plac- ing a huge importance on CRM and SMS marketing. “Cross-selling is also critical be- cause sports bettors remain the very best prospects to start playing other verticals,” he says. “There is such a human element to sports betting. Once the customer feels like they can trust the sportsbook, they also feel they can trust the casino and they are much more inclined to play.” IN-PLAY BETTING CHANGING THE GAME In the four years since the last World Cup, in-play betting has continued to surge. In 2016, bet365 reported that in-play wagers accounted for nearly three-quarters of all revenues for a second straight year. That means that during World Cup play it’s vital for affiliates to work with programs that offer solid live betting features and offers. Mattbar says he devotes an entire section of his website to in-play betting, and Moore adds that punters love having the ability to “cash out” or “let their bets run.” “For punters who can’t get their head around ‘laying’ their bets off on the exchanges, the ‘cash out’ gives them that option,” he says. “So tweeting during live games with bet suggestions and offers is another avenue to explore.” Kounelakis warns, however, that in-play betting margins are much smaller than the other markets, so you can’t place too much emphasis away from the other, more common bets. “You can’t neglect those that love the in-play option, but since the margins are lower, we will always try to promote pre-match wagers and come up with other new features,” he says, add- ing that geo-targeting is also crucial, since regulations and betting-type preferences differ drastically. “We won’t heavily promote scoreline betting in Greece, because they don’t em- brace it like the bettors in the U.K. and Germany. Localization of offers is super important.” Kounelakis feels that having the games played in western Russia will be helpful to the World Cup betting handle because of the similar time zones to the rest of Europe. “When it was in Brazil (in 2014) I remember how hard it was to cope with last-minute changes in the odds during trading because of the time difference,” he says. “This year it will be easier for the companies to monitor traffic and the number of bets and do a better job of offering more wagers.” While the location is more prefer- able, the overall field for this year’s World Cup has taken a hit, with a few popular teams failing to qual- ify. For the first time since 1958, four-time champion Italy will be home for the World Cup and will be the only former winner in the event’s storied history to not be in Russia. Bookmakers in Las Vegas say they are expecting as much as a 30% decrease in World Cup han- dle with the U.S. not making the field. Other attractive teams like the Netherlands and Ghana will also be absent. Kounelakis predicts that the overall handle will be af- fected slightly without Italy in the field, but Mattbar is confident that as long as you’re not dependent on Italian traffic, there are still enough quality teams overall to attract heavy betting volume. “It would have been far worse if England had not qualified,” he says. “In fact, for me, it’s more of a shame that Wales, Northern Ireland, Scotland or Ireland did not qualify. This would have created a lot of additional traffic.” As for who will take home this year’s FIFAWorld Cup Trophy, our three experts had some interesting opinions. Moore, an “With most sports events you see a big surge pre- event . World Cup betting seems to be continuous. It’s like having a six-week-long Cheltenham Festival .” Image by fifg/Shutterstock CASHING IN ON WORLD CUP HYSTERIA W W W . G P W A T I M E S . O R G 20