BetGames has been expanding its global footprint in recent months. And with the Ontario market open for business, it was a natural step for the company to bring its hybrid sport product Twain Sport to bettors across the Canadian market.
Ahead of the Canadian Gaming Summit next week, BetGames CEO Andreas Koeberl discusses plans to bring Twain Sport to the Canadian market and how this fast-paced vertical will disrupt the sporting entertainment space.
SBC: With SBC’s Canadian Gaming Summit just around the corner, what are you looking forward to showcasing at the event?
AK: It’s going to be a great event I’m sure – of course we’re very excited to be showcasing Twain Sport, and in particular, our basketball-themed T-Basket to Canadian operators. We all know that Canada is a sports-crazy nation and fans there are renowned for loving fast-paced entertainment. This is exactly what we’re going to provide with Twain Sport, which is broadcasted 24/7, all year round.
I’m really looking forward to seeing what operators will make of it, and we have every reason to think Twain is set to be a perfect match for Ontario!
SBC: Talk us through Twain Sport – you’re now live with multiple tier one operators including Betano and Entain, what’s making the product such a global hit?
AK: We believe it is the “freshness” of the product. There wasn’t much innovation in the sports space in recent years and we offer a simple yet engaging proposition that we can now offer globally by going 24/7.
We’ve been absolutely delighted with how it has performed so far, but we certainly haven’t rested on our laurels. We improve the player experience month by month by talking to our partners and players to ensure we offer the very best on the market. This has seen us constantly evolve Twain since its launch, meaning that we now have a far more intuitive mobile-first optimized product than ever before.
Another part of that evolution is the introduction of AI to deliver commentary into localised languages to cater for audiences in different jurisdictions, allowing us to scale even more effectively across global markets. I’m sure the end-result here will make it even more game changing than before.
SBC: Given the short-form, real-life action with Twain Sport what was the vision behind delivering such an innovative new vertical?
AK: For us, the aspiration is to offer a perfect complementary product to big sports and the major leagues. Fast-paced, action-packed with immediate reward and highest production quality allows us to deliver on that.
We don’t want to compete with the NBA or other major sports leagues that take up a lot of sports spend, but if bettors have 15 minutes to spare between the second and third quarter of a game or can’t wait for the kick-off on the next Liverpool match, they have the opportunity to play a couple of rounds of T-Kick or T-Basket with us.
These games are available throughout the day and offer 60-second matches every two minutes. It’s all about keeping bettors engaged, before and after big events, and with Twain’s non-stop basketball and soccer matches, we offer the perfect one-stop product to serve that demand.
SBC: Do you believe that Twain Sport can perfectly bridge the gap between major sports and casino-style betting?
AK: Yes, without a doubt. Our product offers instant thrills and payouts, like any casino set-up would. The Twain Sport offering bridges both 24/7 sport and high-frequency betting, without any of the barriers to entry you’ll see with most casino games.
It’s all about keeping bettors engaged by promoting a reason to cross-sell, and with Twain’s non-stop basketball and football matches, we’re able to offer a unique product to serve that requirement.
We’ve done extensive research in markets ahead of launching, to identify the perfect fit for the exact demographics and audiences we’ll be entertaining in the region, and so far, it has been very exciting for us to have got it right and enjoyed such fantastic launches globally.
What we have to offer really is special as it brings sport into the casino world, attracting sports fans, and moving them away from the lower margins associated with sports betting. We take passion for sport very seriously, and we’re able to offer operators a lifetime value on a par with casino margins, while greatly boosting their customer base.
SBC: Looking at your key selling points (high-turnover, 24/7 sporting action) – do you expect Twain Sport to be a major hit in Canada?
AK: Absolutely, Ontario is a unique market with amazing potential. We’re one of the best studios in the world to deliver 24/7 sporting entertainment, and for over a decade, we’ve made our name at BetGames by introducing fixed-odds betting in a live dealer format to sports fans.
Our mission is to bring sports punters closer to the casino world as that’s exactly what our focus is and is in our DNA. As mentioned before, our research has helped us identify whom our target audiences are in Ontario, allowing us to cater to their demands for fast-action entertainment.
For example, the average Canadian bettor is between 25 and 35 years old, which is the demographic we’re here to entertain, making our product a suitable fit.
We’ve received amazing feedback from existing customers in other markets so far, and we have no doubt the Canadian market will follow suit. Our branding options also ensure we can deliver partners an excellent tool which helps promote trust and showcases the value and integrity of our brand and product.
SBC: Last but not least – how soon can we expect Canadian players to be enjoying Twain Sport? What are your initial plans for the market?
AK: We expect to launch into the Canadian market very soon. We purposefully held the launch back to make T-Basket available 24/7, but now that this will be ready in early June, we plan to launch with four to five operators immediately.
As we’ve discussed, this opportunity will allow us to bring Canadian players non-stop, 60 seconds of action-packed basketball and football games played by real athletes competing in bespoke one-on-one challenges, every two minutes, throughout the day. All of us at BetGames are really excited to be delivering these real-life games to Canadian bettors, as we know our product is truly special. Quite simply – there’s nothing else quite like it out there!
