The time to invest in virtual sports has arrived

Life at Incentive Games over the past couple of months has been interesting, to say the least. When the global live sports gambling industry is abruptly thrust into a complete rethink of how its core business operation is performed, those who offer an exciting alternative to the norm, which doesn’t rely on live sports, suddenly became serious contenders.

Much has been written recently around the situation which has plunged the Sportsbetting sector into darkness due to the pause in live sports during the Covid-19 pandemic. Virtual sports quickly materialised as the product that operators embrace to fill the colossal void left by the lack of  sportsbetting revenue.

Incentive Games with their Free-to-Play (FTP) and Pay-to-Play virtual sports wagering products have been at the forefront of this movement into a new and intriguing time for sports betting. Not only as a short-term bandage but as more key betting providers are finding out, this is a concept with far more potential and longer-term advantages than the quick-fix scheme they initially hoped it would be.

The overall impact of Coronavirus on Sportsbooks may never really be known, but the immediate effect on global betting is there for all see with a reported 93% average drop in the number of football bets offered by operators (Source: Online Gambling Quarterly Report).

John Gordon, CEO & Co-Founder of Incentive Games.

The focus which this has put on expanding an operator’s product offering has also heightened the attention on the many emerging markets around the world, especially Africa and its varied regions which already possess a rich heritage of gambling. Online sports betting in these territories is a booming business, although an understanding of the key regional and demographical characteristics is essential to successfully launch a product on this stage.

Incentive Games is backed by their illustrious industry advisors that have specific expertise in this area and have an acute awareness of Africa’s infrastructure limitations. Therefore they have developed games explicitly designed to empower the customer experience of these complex and burgeoning jurisdictions. Providing a tailored service which fits the low-end technology and low data consumption attributes of the locality, particularly catering for non-Java script enabled browsers, means these consumers  have now access to games that were previously only available to users with high end devices and high bandwidth.

Their growing reputation as a games provider who can accommodate any market or market variant has been the driving factor in some of the worlds major Sportsbook operators seeking them out to integrate their unique virtual multi-sports games onto their platforms.

Evidenced by recently signed agreements with EveryMatrix, Singular, BetWay and a worldwide partnership with Dafabet, Incentives innovative virtual sports games and leagues, where any sport can be played at any time, over any duration, are becoming a fundamental string to any operators bow. The ability to run sports betting without the need for live sports, increases not only customer acquisition and retention rates but also futureproofs any site against further disruption to its primary wagering source.

Since the beginning of March, when the pandemic took hold, Incentive has witnessed a significant growth of their virtual sports products in relationship to live sports in Africa, with the numbers exceeding all expectations. Previously, an average of 10% – 20% of live sports players also engaged with virtual sports. Today, those cross-over figures have risen significantly to nearer 60% – 80%, sending out a powerful message that this genre of gaming demands a place within the iGaming industry. Combine this increase with the average stake on virtual sports, which is only 10% – 20% lower than its real-life counterpart and the potential successes for any operator are vast.

Savvy operators are already investing in their future by taking advantage of the products afforded by Incentive Games. They are establishing a new arm of their business which will continue to grow, long after the resumption of real-life sports betting. The time of virtual sports has arrived.

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