Blazesoft Group’s Sportzino brand has celebrated its one year anniversary operating in the U.S. Marking the occasion, SBC Americas sat down with Sportzino’s Program Manager Dmytro Uzundai and Blazesoft’s Senior VP of Business Operations Yuliy German, to learn more about its debut year and what lies ahead in the future.
SBC Americas: The social gaming industry is known for its fierce competition and constant innovation. How has Sportzino been able to stand out in such a crowded space?
Dmytro Uzundai: Sportzino is an industry-first product in and of itself, which makes it easy to pick out in the oversaturated market. There are many sweepstakes casinos in the U.S. and a few social sportsbooks, but we were the first to make both available for players all in one hub. It’s why we have seen incredible growth over the past year. We listen to our players, question how we can do better, and constantly look for ways to improve. Our community is knowledgeable, loyal and passionate. They know what they want to see, and we do everything to deliver it. That’s been at the heart of what we do from day one.
Yuliy German: Like Dmytro said, it’s all about respecting our players. They’re so involved and invested, and their feedback has truly shaped Sportzino into what it is today. We always try to see things through their eyes and make sure their voices are heard.
SBCA: Sportzino has grown plenty in the last 12 months. What do you think has been the key to this growth in such a competitive industry?
DU: Sportzino witnessed quick commercial growth within weeks after its launch. Today, our social casino and social sportsbook offer one of the largest game selections in North America with over 1,000 free-to-play titles and cover all the sports players can need with thousands of events from major global leagues like the NBA, NFL, UEFA Champions League, Grand Slams, Formula One and cricket.
There are a few key factors that have driven this success. Sportzino is a true innovation in the industry. Our platform offers everything a user could want from gaming content to free predictions, we make it easy for our players to make a one-stop destination for endless entertainment.
We focus heavily on the player experience by investing in our existing team and adding new talent. We re-branded our entire site to improve UI and navigation. We went aggressive on our marketing budget to offer additional daily promotions. We perfect our partnerships with industry leading names.
We consistently optimize our sportsbook with live streaming options, virtual sports, esports and more. We consistently invest in our technological backbone to enable more entertaining options for our customers. Each of these strategies immensely paid off.
YG: It all ties back to listening to the player. They tell us what they want to see and we listen, deliver, and grow.
SBCA: The past year must have presented its fair share of challenges. What was the biggest and how did your team manage to push through that?
DU: A large challenge we still face is supporting our existing social sportsbook and casino offering while constantly introducing new features and ideas. The idea of maintaining and creating, in parallel. It can be quite difficult sometimes, and there’s surely an element of trial and error involved.
We operate in a highly fast-paced environment, where things are always changing, and we prefer to ‘fail fast’ and innovate more. That way, if something isn’t working and players aren’t enjoying it, we respond just as quickly.
But if you ask me, the biggest challenge is prioritizing what’s best for users and finding ways to deliver it with precision. With so many ways to engage our users — be it another sportsbook promotion, a new exclusive game release from our valued partners, or a unique daily challenge designed by our hardworking and creative team, it’s our biggest priority. How do we evolve and innovate without disruption — that’s the biggest challenge.
YG: As any product on the market, we faced our challenges. It comes down to investing in the right team that has the gall to overcome these hurdles and consistently investing in our technological backbone to introduce the most entertaining features for our users. As Dmytro mentioned, keeping our platform fresh for our long-term players and new players and making sure they don’t experience fatigue is a constant challenge. But we’re up for it.
SBCA: What can we expect next for Sportzino ?
DU We’re just getting started! We’ll continue sparking our player’s passion for playing or predicting by partnering with the best in the business to expand our content, genres, features, events, leagues and more. With some really exciting developments on the way, all I can say for now is, stay tuned!
