The summer’s biggest sporting event is in full swing, with a number of shock results and quality goals already keeping us on the edge of our seats throughout the day.
For the betting and gaming industry, it’s already proving to be an incredibly busy period. From pushing promotional material to managing the back-end platforms to handle the surge in transactions, these major tournaments ensure all business areas are hard at work.
But what exactly is it that makes the World Cup such a crucial event for our industry? Below, we’ve identified the key reasons as to why it’s the greatest show on earth:
- Effective acquisition and reactivation tool
With the excitement that the World Cup generates, marketing spend has been significantly increased as operators look to capture new customers, who are all keen to grab a slice of the action and take those excitement levels up a notch.
Celebrities have been appointed as brand ambassadors, while attractive promotions and competitions have been used to raise brand awareness. What’s interesting to see this year is the growth of jackpots being offered to players, with eye-watering sums of money up for grabs.
It’s also a fantastic chance to reactivate those lost players too, especially recreational bettors who have engaged in similar, big-name sporting events.
- Keeps bettors engaged during the summer months
The summer period is typically a quieter period for sportsbook operators, especially as the Premier League reaches its climax in May. However, that all changes every couple of years when the World Cup or European Championships are held.
With this year’s tournament being held in Russia, European-facing operators will benefit the most from the convenient kick off times and attract greater numbers to their offering. We also expect to see an increase in betting activity in Asia, given its close proximity to Russia.
- Casino cross-sell opportunities
Major football tournaments aren’t just an opportunity for sportsbooks to grow their business, and in recent years we’ve seen online casinos capitalise on the interest among bettors. Many have introduced sportsbook offerings, with the intention to keep bettors on-site during such major events.
This year we’ve seen a number of developers introduce football-themed slots to their portfolio, an ideal proposition which helps operators cross-sell into other verticals. They can be used as an incentive as part of promotional messages, such as “spend X amount on this slot and win a free £10 bet on the World Cup Final”.
- Drives revenues beyond the tournament
The short-term spikes in revenues are an obvious plus point for operators, but those who are able to retain the majority of those newly-acquired customers beyond the tournament will be the real winners.
One effective route to keeping players engaged after the tournament ends is by providing excellent customer service, as well as taking a proactive approach. At Enteractive, we know first-hand that quality contact with players creates up to 10x longer relationships.
Prior to the big kick off, we picked out three of the tastiest ties from the opening round of fixtures and provided our predictions on who we thought would come out on top. Being a tournament with many surprises from the start, we can’t deny that we were slightly off with our predictions. Follow this link to discover the scores we foresaw.
Photo credit: Fauzen Saari/ Rhett Lewis https://historyofsoccer.info
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