Interviews
Exclusive Q&A with Joakim Renman, CCO at Scout Gaming
Is DFS the perfect alternative for sports fans who reside in jurisdictions where sports betting is still unregulated? How much of a crossover is there between sports betting and DFS fans?
Fantasy sports is an integral part of the modern sports fan and the crossover is near perfect. Our data shows that sportsbooks that offer DFS can see a significant increase in the time customers spend on site, the money they spend and the trust they have with the brand. Of course, this works both ways so for operators limited to DFS at present they have the potential to unlock powerful cross-selling opportunities once they are permitted to offer sports betting.
For us it does not matter whether the market is regulated or not. The Scout Gaming platform is modular so can be adapted to any market and in particular any regulatory requirements that have to be met. We want as many operators as possible to leverage the potential of daily fantasy sports so we have built our products and services to be customizable in a short space of time and with very little effort.
DFS has been growing in popularity around the world continually over the past few years. What aspects of this vertical cause it to be so appealing to the new generation of players entering the market?
I think it has a lot to do with the complexity of daily fantasy sports when compared with sports betting. Players are far more invested when creating their teams than they are when simply betting on the outcome of a football match. DFS offers additional layers of engagement, it is a more sophisticated product and poses a greater challenge.
It also helps players to connect with the sport on a deeper level. It creates an emotional attachment that carries over to the DFS products they are playing and the brand they are playing with. Ultimately, DFS players see the game differently to a sports bettor and this in turn enhances their joy of betting and gambling.
The social aspect of DFS is also a big draw for players. Sports betting can be solitary but with DFS there is a huge community of like-minded players. There is a lot of content created around DFS and people like to talk tactics and strategies and share performance stats on social media. Of course, DFS is a community-driven game at heart as it requires high levels of liquidity to offer the best player experience.
Some industry commentators believe that being able to continually offer the customer something new and different is a core aspect of player engagement. How important is innovation to Scout Gaming and what are some of the most exciting innovations available in the market? What does the next level of DFS look like?
Innovation is key and that is why sportsbook operators are looking to add daily fantasy sports to their offerings. Sports betting has remained fairly stagnant for a number of years now; players are offered the same odds, markets and bet types. To take their propositions to the next level, operators need to add more variety and DFS provides this.
Here at Scout Gaming we are incredibly focussed on developing new features. Our international real money network liquidity solution for paid DFS has put us miles ahead of any competitor trying to break into the market.
Add to this our bet recommendation engine, Betflex, unique playing features like Pursuit, Late Swap, Safety Net, Bet-on-my-Team, Player Performance Odds, Player Sportsbook, Player Matchups and you can see why we are at the cutting edge of the fantasy vertical.
That we’ve done all of this on Web Components, a new technology from Google that looks set to become the standard in the gaming space, means we can maintain a fast pace of development to remain ahead of our rivals.
This really is a new universe where the sky is not even the limit.
New innovations such as the Scout Gaming Fantasy Player Odds Markets are a great way to further integrate two different audiences. Is DFS the perfect complement to sportsbook products and how big Is the cross-selling opportunity?
According to our internal data and analysis from one year of numbers from a client success story, typical sportsbook players who are exposed to Scout Gaming’s fantasy products have 22% more active days, 14% more turnover and 7% higher GGR on the partner’s sportsbook.
The effect on sportsbook performance from heavy fantasy sports users is even more drastic. This leads to 35% more active days, 45% more turnover and a 20% increase in GGR on the sportsbook.
In addition, iGaming partners see an extra 3.9 active days per user per month. Finally, 54% of users in full seasonal games are retained for 9+ months, greatly reducing customer churn.
This proves that DFS is a perfect complement to sports betting since it offers sportsbooks vital product differentiation while substantially increasing GGR and improving user active days and turnover.
The esports sector has experienced unprecedented growth recently and offers great growth opportunities for potential market entrants. How can verticals like DFS help operators successfully tap into these online communities and keep them engaged?
Regular sports do not have communities in the same way that esports and DFS do. Esports in particular is consumed online and via channels such as Twitch and Youtube where community engagement is encouraged and celebrated. Because esports is consumed in an online world, players are far more connected to the game being played and to related products.
The same applies to DFS; it is community driven and players have a much deeper engagement with the sports, teams and players they are “betting” on. By offering DFS, traditional sportsbook operators can tap into these communities and, given the cross-sell potential mentioned above, unlock tremendous growth as a result.
DFS products have seen great success in key regions such as North America, Australia and is still yet to fulfil its full potential across Europe. What regions do you see offering the best growth opportunities in this sector and what can we do as an industry to push DFS to the next level?
DFS is forecasted to represent somewhere in the range of 2.2%-3.2% of the entire European real money wagering market. With a total market size of €24.7bn, this represents a total addressable DFS market of €550m-€700m, much of which is still largely untapped. With the US market having already surpassed the $500m mark and growing at a steady pace, we definitely see Europe as a significant market and one that will grow at a much faster pace and with less competition.
How did the lack of live sports affect the DFS market last year? What can DFS operators do to better protect themselves from these instances in the future?
The key is to not focus too much on a single sport or set of leagues and instead offer enjoyable experiences that span literally any sport, league and with multiple ways to play.
We were able to face the challenges of the pandemic by having all of our technology, IP and knowledge in-house; this allowed us to immediately cater for whichever sport or league was available at any given time. Whether eSports, Taiwanese Basketball or even minor local leagues, we were able to make sure that the music never stopped playing for our operator partners.
Scout Gaming reported a 54% revenue increase for Q1 of 2021. What do you think has been the key driver of this growth and how can these levels be maintained going forward?
There are several factors behind the growth we recorded in Q1. We are constantly improving our product which in turn allows us to gain even more traction with existing and new operator partners. As our liquidity network is shared between all of our partners, the more operators we add the more attractive our product becomes to new customers.
This is because we can offer bigger prizes and also invest in the development of new games, betting types, markets and so on.
In terms of continued growth, we are set to go live with several new partners including two tier 1 operators, both first of its scale and size. Our sportsbook has also seen a significant increase in traction of late and we’ll be “completing” the offering with the addition of key features such as Live Betting, Bet-Builder, Cash-Out and of course a few Easter Eggs spawned from the intersection of fantasy and sports betting. There is incredible momentum behind the business right now and I am excited for the rest of the year.
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EvenBet Gaming’s CEO, Dmitry Starostenkov, speaks to EEGaming about the company’s expansion into the casino vertical, what drove the decision, what it took to build, and what it means for operators looking to grow beyond a single product.
EvenBet has spent more than two decades building its reputation in poker. What told you the time was right to move into casino?
We kept having the same conversation with partners who trusted our poker infrastructure, asking whether we could support them on the casino side too. For a long time, our answer was to point them elsewhere but, with competition intensifying, that became harder to justify.
But there’s a wider shift happening too. Operators are under real pressure to extract more value from their existing player base. Acquisition costs are rising, regulated markets are tightening, and the days of building a sustainable business on a single vertical are gone. Operators who are growing have found more ways to extend player value across their full product offering, and that requires purpose-built infrastructure.
We have the technical foundation and understand the player behaviour. The question became when to make the move, and how to do it in a way that was genuinely an improvement on what was already out there.
Moving from the single poker vertical into a full casino platform is a significant undertaking. Where did the product challenges actually lie?
The single player account sounds simple until you’re actually building it. Shared balance, unified player profile, seamless movement between poker and casino all create complexity that compounds quickly. The other challenge was scope. A game aggregator covering 15,000 titles across 230-plus providers has the potential to create real infrastructure problems. We had to build something that could handle that scale without becoming unwieldy for operators to use. And we didn’t want to compromise the poker product to get there either – that was non-negotiable. Everything had to work as one system, not two products stapled together.
How does cross-vertical conversion work, and why does that matter so much to operators right now?
The friction in moving a player between verticals has always been the drop-off point. Separate logins, separate wallets and separate experiences are all different reasons for a player to disengage. When that’s removed, the conversion happens more naturally.
What makes the difference is having product mechanics that actively pull players across. One Click Poker removes the traditional lobby entirely, which has historically been the biggest barrier for casino players who find poker intimidating or unfamiliar. Spins Poker goes further by taking player-versus-player gameplay and wrapping it in slot-style mechanics, so the experience feels native to a casino player from the first session.
In the other direction, casino rewards sitting inside the poker environment give poker players a natural reason to explore. It becomes a two-way pipeline rather than a one-way push, and operators can see that working in the data. That’s what cross-vertical conversion looks like when the product architecture supports it properly.
What does EvenBet Gaming now offer an operator that they genuinely can’t get elsewhere?
Most casino platforms don’t come with a serious poker product attached, and most poker providers don’t have a credible casino offering. We’re in a fairly unique position in that we can genuinely deliver both, and the integration between the two is real and not just a partnership held together by an API. In terms of who this is for, it’s operators who want to grow. Whether that’s a new entrant who needs a clean, fast route to market, or an established operator who has a casino product but knows they’re missing a revenue stream without poker. We’re positioned to offer that market entry and scalability, without compromising quality.
The post Behind EvenBet Gaming’s strategic evolution into casino appeared first on EE Gaming | Global iGaming & Tech Intelligence Hub.
Looking beyond Brazil, which LatAm market stands out most right now, and what makes it attractive?
Liam Hoofe, Content Strategist at GameOn
Based on our research for GO Intel, I think Chile is the market to watch out for the most. The size of the opportunity is potentially massive, with the Chilean Senate’s own figures estimating that more than 5 million Chileans are already gambling online.
The demand is definitely there, and broader discussions about a regulatory framework are underway. Our estimates in GO Intel also put channelisation rates at 80% if enforcement and regulation ran smoothly.
The proposed ‘cooling-off’ period for operators already active there is also quite a unique approach, and it will benefit those who approach the market with the right foundations in place.
Of course, as we’ve seen with Brazil, there will no doubt be a lot of public debate around the market, and the tax structure could be complex, but of the three we researched, this one still stands out the most.
Paulina Hovar, Lead Sales Manager LATAM at BGaming
Right now, Mexico and Argentina stand out the most to me.
Mexico has been showing steady growth for a while now. It’s already a fairly mature market with strong operator presence, but there’s still plenty of room to scale. At the same time, one of the main things to watch is the tax situation and how regulation may develop in the future, since that could impact profitability and market dynamics.
Argentina is interesting for a different reason. The market is regulated at the provincial level, so it’s much more decentralized. That creates opportunities because entry can be more flexible, but it also means you need to understand the local landscape and choose partners and regions carefully.
Ramiro Atucha, Board Advisor to Kiron Interactive
Mexico stands out. The size of the market alone makes it attractive, and the current regulation is already acceptable enough for public companies to feel comfortable operating there. It’s also moving toward a more formal framework, so there’s still margin to grow. Beyond Mexico, I’d point to Chile, certain provinces in Argentina, and Colombia. All three have their own dynamics, but they’re markets you can’t ignore right now.
When entering markets that are still evolving from a regulatory perspective, what’s the right balance between moving early and waiting for clarity?
Liam Hoofe, Content Strategist at GameOn
That’s the million-dollar question, and it’s one I’m not sure there is a 100% correct answer to. For me, it’s about building relationships, ensuring you have the right infrastructure in place, and understanding a market before you invest.
Operators and studios that just enter with no understanding of the culture and of the way the regulatory landscape could adapt are putting themselves at risk of failing.
Trying to remain one step ahead of regulation and working alongside the regulators to help the market mature is always going to be a much better approach than just waiting for regulation to come into place and being reactive.
Paulina Hovar, Lead Sales Manager LATAM at BGaming
It depends on how mature the market is.
If the regulatory framework is already clear and established, then the best approach is to operate fully within the licensed model from day one.
But in markets that are still in a gray or transitional stage, where operators are already active, it can make sense to take a more gradual approach. That could mean building partnerships, adapting the product to local needs, and preparing for future regulation before fully committing.
You also have to be very careful about legal and reputational risks. Every market is different, so timing and level of involvement should be assessed on a case-by-case basis.
Ramiro Atucha, Board Advisor to Kiron Interactive
As early as possible, as long as it isn’t illegal or forbidden. That’s the right moment to enter and transition through the regulatory process. Brazil is the clearest example. Sports betting was legalized in 2018, but the full regulatory framework only came in late 2023, with licensed operations starting in 2025. The operators that used those years to attract players, test the market and build name recognition without breaking the law made a real difference. By the time regulation arrived, they were already established.
As markets like Chile, Peru, and Uruguay develop, what will separate the brands that succeed from those that struggle?
Liam Hoofe, Content Strategist at GameOn
The biggest differentiator for me is localisation, and by that, I mean real localisation, not just translating a game into Spanish and calling it a day. This means actually creating products and promotions that speak to local audiences. LatAm is not just some big monolithic market with a one-size-fits-all solution – brands that succeed there are the ones that understand this. The ones who know that a player in Chile is not the same as one in Uruguay or Brazil are going to be the big winners.
On top of that, working closely with regulators and showing genuine concern for players’ well-being in these markets will make a huge difference. It’s not enough anymore to just display simple responsible gambling tools; players want to see it in your actions, and it’s obvious to them which brands really care and which are just ticking boxes.
And finally, local partnerships. Some of the most successful companies we work with are those that really integrate themselves and find local partners that offer genuine insight into communities, and can be leveraged to build trust. This can be achieved in a number of different ways, whether it’s through working with local content creators and influencers or getting involved with local charities and events.
Paulina Hovar, Lead Sales Manager LATAM at BGaming
As markets like Chile, Peru, and Uruguay continue to develop, the following three factors will set successful brands apart from the rest.
First, strong local partnerships. Without people on the ground and a real understanding of how each market works, it’s very difficult to build a sustainable position.
Second, product adaptation. Translation alone is never enough. Companies need proper localization that reflects user behavior, cultural differences, and local audience preferences.
And third, regulatory readiness. The companies that invest early in certification, compliance, and building the right processes will have a major advantage later on. It’s expensive and takes time, but in regulated markets, long-term preparation usually makes the difference between short-term growth and lasting success.
Ramiro Atucha, Board Advisor to Kiron Interactive
Brands that bring international experience and proven competitiveness from other markets, combined with genuine local understanding, will get the best of both worlds. The international background gives you credibility and product depth. The local presence gives you a product that’s actually adapted to how players in that country behave. Neither side works on its own. In Chile, Peru, and Uruguay, the operators who get this combination right are the ones who’ll separate from the pack.
The post LatAm: Beyond Brazil – Chile, Uruguay and Peru’s Regulatory Trajectories appeared first on Americas iGaming & Sports Betting News.
Following his appointment as Chief Product Officer at iGaming software pioneer Tequity, industry veteran Alex Scott outlines his vision for the company’s expanding product suite. With over 20 years of leadership experience, including driving WPT Global to become the world’s second-largest online poker room, he shares his insights on how Tequity’s approach is redefining both the games players enjoy and the way they are distributed.
You have held senior leadership roles at major operators and suppliers. What convinced you to join Tequity, and what are your main priorities as CPO?
Tequity is a business that I’ve admired since I first became aware of it. In that time I’ve heard so many positive things about how the company is able to move very quickly and decisively, while still delivering ultra high quality products for its partners. When I started interviewing for the position and meeting the people involved, that only reinforced the positive impression I had. It was clear to me that this was a company that is at the forefront of innovation in the iGaming space, creating and delivering content that is fresh and exciting.
My priority as CPO is to further accelerate the development of top-quality products that are highly relevant to today’s players. I’m excited to roll up my sleeves and get stuck in – there are so many possibilities!
Tequity recently secured BMM Testlabs certification for its RNG and the first batch of Originals titles. How does that accelerate your product roadmap?
This certification will open up many more potential customers for Tequity, and therefore many more opportunities for businesses to take advantage of Tequity’s services, like our bespoke Exclusives and our top-performing Originals. Operators fighting for market share are always looking for those added-value elements that can set them apart from the competition and our fully brandable, customisable and feature-packed content offers that key point of difference.
It will also enable the studios using our RGS and Publishing solutions to widen their own distribution and reach many more potential customers as well – just another reason to choose our RGS. We have seen the strong demand for our games and solutions from partners all over the world, and we believe that this appetite will be more than matched by operators in the regulated market space.
Finally, it represents s a step towards a wider regulated market expansion which I am excited to be involved in.
Player preferences are moving decisively toward fast-paced, community-driven experiences. How do Tequity’s game divisions cater to this next generation of player engagement?
One of the things that sets Tequity apart is that the company truly understands what the modern generation of players are looking for. They are discovering online casino in a very different way to past generations, and require simpler, easier to understand, more socially-driven content if you want their full attention. Today’s players expect instant gratification and seamless, mobile-first experiences that fit into their fast-paced lifestyles. They also want gameplay to feel like less of a solitary activity and more of a shared event.
Having spent recent months immersed in casino game development for the crypto generation, I’m really looking forward to contributing to these efforts and having an impact of my own.
You will be joining the Tequity team at iGB Live in London next month. What is the key takeaway you want operators and studios to leave with?
As the newest Tequity signing, I’m looking forward to meeting the rest of the team and many of our partners and customers at iGB Live.
Tequity is an extremely fast and capable company that builds high-quality, interesting products at the cutting-edge of the industry. My hope is that operators and studios leave the event understanding our expertise and capabilities. But I also want them to leave with a sense of the enthusiasm and passion that we have for building great games that stand out from the crowd.
The post Q&A with Tequity’s new Chief Product Officer Alex Scott appeared first on EE Gaming | Global iGaming & Tech Intelligence Hub.
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