The amusement value of sports betting

Nikolaos Konstakis of INTRALOT discusses the implications surrounding the sports betting industry and how it must continue to thrive.

The World Cup is just around the corner and excitement is growing day by day as the 12th of June kick off approaches. A World Cup year is always special and significant from many different perspectives. The tournament has proved to be so popular, has engaged millions of people and has gradually evolved from a football milestone to a significant political and social event. As such it is a moment when politicians send messages, countries develop relationships further and in general people recall the past and look forward to the future.

We in sportsbetting, are one of the industries that has to think of the World Cup way before the event actually kicks off. We look at what has happened in the past and think of what we can do better for the upcoming tournament. Our position this year has led us to rethink of the fundamental elements of sportsbetting entertainment and fun. The goal must always be to protect the gaming aspect of sportsbetting and add fun to sports. There are many ways of interpreting this but the leading factors that must be in place in order to achieve this goal are regulation and a fitting product innovation.

The fact that the 2014 World Cup takes place in Brazil where sportsbetting is still not regulated, is a good chance to remind our industry about how regulation can transform uncontrolled gambling to protected gaming and street sportsbetting to sportsbetting for fun. There are always open questions around the world, is regulated sportsbetting the right way to go or should we completely ban this activity?

Sportsbetting for the majority of the people does not have positive connotations. In most people’s mind sportsbetting is perceived as an underground activity, often involving nefarious characters taking advantage of people’s addiction. This picture is depicted in popular culture as something associated with other illegal activities. So the question is, does sportsbetting as an activity have a negative impact on society in general or is it the mere fact that it is part of an illegal environment that makes it harmful? The answer is straightforward, sportsbetting is just a game and definitely a very entertaining one. This entertaining element has to be protected, safeguarded and promoted and the prerequisite in order for this to be achieved is suitable government regulatory frameworks, implemented by organisations with strong commitment to social responsibility.

Sportsbetting as it stands today in the majority of the world is an array of diverging industry standards. A quick look around the world proves that although we talk of regulating our industry for a long time, we are way behind in achieving at best a common approach towards it. There are countries that have proceeded with regulating competitive environments within their territories, while others have regulated monopolies and others that have completely banned sportsbetting activities within their jurisdiction. Sportsbetting is fairly regulated in Europe and Australia; is hugely popular in Asia but almost completely uncontrolled; is a billion dollar industry but is mainly in the hands of illegal elements in America - both North and South (for different reasons) and is still immature in Africa. On top of that, the so called “.com” industry is still dominating specific parts of the world taking advantage of the lack of regulation, open windows due to vague legislation and governments not always able to apply their frameworks’ restrictions within their jurisdictions. All this creates a landscape which is yet to be shaped and still needs to mature and industry leading organisations have to pave the road to responsible growth in the right direction for the industry.

As every contemporary industry, sportsbetting is driven by innovation. Within the context described above, innovation had been mainly driven by profit considerations which do not always match with the social and fun element of sportsbetting. When we innovate we should not just innovate to make money but we should innovate to contribute to entertainment as well. Innovation in the following years should be focused on products that will maintain the fun element of sportsbetting while at the same time will safeguard social responsibility and assist to the integrity of sports.

Sportsbetting is one of mankind’s oldest activities and it used to be a simple and entertaining one. It has always been a game which combined knowledge with skill and luck and we have to find ways of returning this back to all our customer segments. Following the strong connections between advances in technology and sportsbetting, innovation was mainly concerned with providing many products to satisfy consumers’ appetite. Due to huge competition and the aggressive growth of new technologies a complex set of add-on products was created. The time is right to promote products that will address a balance between a technology that enhances the array of betting options available with a return to the basic and primary element of sportsbetting, its entertainment value. Youth is the primary focus of most industries today. Social media being a prime example of a youth customer segment, sportsbetting has followed track with its almost privileged segmentation in this direction. This has potential to diverge and the hobby element where everyone can enjoy through whatever access channels there are available should be the driving force of the industry today.

The most commonly anticipated sporting event worldwide the World Cup, represents nations coming together in a friendly rivalry to compete for a trophy. It is a simple concept build with respect on top of people’s beloved sport. It would be a big step forward for the industry if sportsbetting could evolve to an activity that will serve people’s tendency to bet and at the same time obtain and reflect the basic ethos that the World Cup represents. We should look at this World Cup and consider repositioning our sportsbetting product within an activity that has its prime focus the element of fun and integrity, which has probably been misplaced in the submergence and all encompassing tendency to supplant the fun aspect with an abundance of add-on products.

In Intralot we understand this as our obligation. It is our goal to build up and evolve jurisdictions in a way that brings out the fun aspect of sports inside a protected and controlled sportsbetting environment where somebody can perceive sportsbetting as an entertaining game and as a habit which enhances the pleasure of sports.