Interviews
Sportsbooks – the challenge of going it alone
Launching an in-house created, quality sportsbook is not a task for the faint of heart, particularly in such a fast-moving, crowded and competitive marketplace. AllSported’s CEO, Alan Casey and Technamin’s founder and CEO, Suren Khachatryan, examine what benefits there are for some to resist the temptation to go it alone in favour of a tried and trusted solution and the wider, overall challenges.
Creating a robust, intuitive and attractive sportsbook is vital for anyone entering the marketplace or looking to expand their offering. Just how difficult is it to get right?
AC – The sheer number of moving parts makes it almost impossible to build a successful brand from the ground up without the right kind of help. Getting a new brand off the ground is expensive and entails a great deal of manpower. This staffing proposal alone can be enough to make prospective investors nervous.
As well as that, our industry’s compliance landscape is constantly shifting and keeping on top of those continual updates is a near-impossible task with every other factor that needs to be considered. Then there is payment provision to consider and all the nuances and preferences that come with it as well as optimising the look and feel of the front end. Meanwhile, operators need to engage in the ongoing negotiations for the multiple feeds for data content and pricing to make their offering attractive to end-users. It’s simply far too much to consider at any one time.
An operator on a new brand needs to be able to dedicate the bulk of their attention to getting new customers in the door. Platform providers do all the heavy lifting at the start, then down the line, when the project is stable, an operator can look to move to a better platform or even buy a licence a platform, or even buy a platform outright, but this is far from feasible to begin with.
SK – Even if we were to develop the most attractive sportsbook, it would not function without a dedicated and professional team. As a provider, that’s the first challenge we must overcome. It’s crucial to have a team of creative, innovative professionals who are enthusiastic about their tasks and are willing to dedicate themselves thoroughly to the process. Finding the right people is something we must tackle from the get-go.
Next up is the product itself. A sportsbook is a product that deals with a large amount of data on live mode, 24/7, 365 days per year, without delays. That’s why we need to consider the speed of the website as an important challenge that companies often face. At the same time, providing immediate loading and smooth operations is crucial, which is something we are able to do at Technamin.
Mathematics is at the core of everything we do, which is why sports analysis must be conducted on a high level with the most delicate calculations. This is part of what turns an ordinary sportsbook into a successful one that functions properly.
Last but not least, we must be very attentive toward safety. It is imperative that we monitor and analyse user behaviour accordingly in order to provide progress and security to the business and maintain a secure environment. These are all factors that we must keep an eye on when creating a sportsbook.
What can an experienced B2B platform provider offer any newcomers to the vertical that they can’t achieve themselves?
AC – Cost saving and time to market are the main factors. Although AllSported isn’t a platform provider, we offer everything a customer needs to launch a horse racing product. The cost of someone building out a horse racing trading team is quite significant. On top of that, they would have to get providers for data, content and pricing and then complete all those integrations.
With our help, operators can get everything in one integration and receive a tier-one calibre racing product that they don’t have to think about once it’s switched on. Through the accuracy and speed of our pricing, we’ve seen customers plug us in and immediately achieve double-digit margin percentages, which remain consistent.
SK – Starting everything from scratch would be a financial and professional challenge beyond most newcomers. On the other hand, an experienced B2B provider will have a longer and more in-depth understanding of data, which enables them to implement various AI solutions on different functions based on the data collected over years of being active in the industry.
Additionally, experienced providers have already achieved well-organised work between different departments. This is a significant advantage and a major step toward rapid development and support.
In Technamin’s case, we provide 24/7 technical and client support in case any issues occur. It is important to us that we cater to everything for our operators, and the collective industry insight of our team allows us to do so.
What benefits in terms of timescale are there for operators to consider when partnering with a provider?
AC – An expedited timescale is definitely one of the biggest advantages of a good provider. Platforms and B2B providers have already done the heavy lifting and have ready-made solutions that they can get live for an operator’s customers pretty much overnight. Operators can have the open business sign on the door from day one, or can at least be under construction and have the coming soon sign up as soon as possible. It’s a very clear-cut decision.
SK – If the provider has the proper infrastructure required to set up the product efficiently and in time, the operator will be able to scale in a shorter time frame. At Technamin, we can fully provide operators with the sportsbook in a little over a week, depending on the circumstances. As most operators are intent on entering the market faster, this is an advantage for them.
Moreover, we not only fully support the technical side of things, but we also offer consulting with risk management and promotional issues in very short time periods. We do this so the operator can hit the ground running as soon as the sportsbook is delivered.
For suppliers, what does the future hold and how can they ensure that they and their platforms remain attractive to operators?
AC – The feedback we hear the most from customers of platform providers is a desire for more flexibility. There is a feeling among operators that with platform providers, you get what you pay for and a more customisable product comes at a premium. However, even the ability to alter elements like pricing strategies isn’t a given.
We’re talking to a lot of people who would love a better solution for horse racing but have their hands tied by their providers. They’re spending huge sums on marketing and trying to acquire customers, but then they’re offering a subpar horse racing product and giving away up to 10 per cent in margin due to price latencies. So as necessary as platform providers are, new brands should choose wisely from the outset to ensure they maintain control of their offering.
SK – Technology is always progressing. On one hand, the operators’ needs must be fully covered, but it is also crucial to keep the product up to date with the latest technological developments and advancements and tweak things accordingly.
We must also ensure that there are unique and creative solutions that have not been implemented in the market, and to use these solutions as leverage for operators.
In addition to tech advancements, we also keep track of UI/UX and come up with innovative website designs that attract different markets and market segments. It’s also worth noting that one must always be open to partners’ feedback and ensure that the best service is immediately provided for them, which is what Technamin’s dedicated teams are trained to do.
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Live casino’s rise has been meteoric, but the recent slowdown at the top end of the market suggests the next phase of growth won’t come from scale alone. As the sector matures, Ady Totah, CEO at LuckyStreak, explains why agility, hands-on management and a sharper product focus are fast becoming the new competitive edge.
There is a perception that the biggest live casino providers are the most capable. Is bigger always better?
It’s easy to assume that the biggest brands automatically deliver the best service, but with scale comes complexity. For larger organisations, adding new features or reacting to a regulatory update can take weeks or even months, especially when decisions span multiple time zones or teams have long approval chains.
At LuckyStreak, while we’re an established business with a large, dedicated workforce at our live dealer studio in Riga, our management team remains intentionally small and hands-on. In many ways, we operate more like a start-up, with fast, focused leadership at the core.
Myself and my co-founder Erez Cywier are closely involved in the day-to-day operations. This proximity shortens decision making processes, speeds up product assessments and empowers us to act quickly. We’re not tied down by long-winded protocols or bureaucracy.
A perfect example of this agility came when we saw an opportunity in the growing sweepstakes market. We already had the foundations but needed to adapt quickly. In just one quarter, we delivered compliant user interfaces, multi-coin virtual currency systems and configured both our own live games and third-party content to meet the unique needs of the sweepstakes audience. This is the kind of rapid pivot that is only possible when your decision-makers are hands-on.
How do boutique providers keep product planning sharp and strategic?
Knowing what matters and prioritising ruthlessly is what allows smaller providers to remain competitive in the market, when faced with more established, Tier 1 names. Speed, however, does not mean shortcuts.
We are sharpening our performance across the board and ensuring our roadmap gives us the flexibility to act when new opportunities arise. Effective product planning is all about focus. That means tuning out the industry noise, resisting trends for the sake of trends, and asking: what delivers real impact for our partners?
While some companies struggle under the weight of large and inflexible roadmaps, we have the luxury of being selective in what we build, and that makes our product roadmap more actionable, more tailored and therefore more valuable to our partners.
How can providers keep up with rising regulatory pressures?
Operating across multiple jurisdictions means navigating a complicated patchwork of compliance frameworks, licensing rules and technical standards quickly.
Compliance is not a support function, but a core part of the business. For larger businesses, these regulatory changes may present disruptions, but our size and structure allow us to react quickly and stay ahead of the curve, without compromising on quality.
To maintain both speed and quality, we moved from traditional Agile sprints to a continuous integration and deployment (CI/CD) model. Instead of bundling releases every two weeks, we push updates multiple times a week. This means we can react quickly to feedback, ship improvements faster, and keep our platform evolving without unnecessary delays.
Why is a more focused approach the future of live casino?
The criteria for what operators need from their live casino provider is changing. Reliability, flexibility, speed and compliance support are becoming just as, if not more, important than table count. We design everything with these qualities in mind, and we back that up with a strong culture of ownership and continuous delivery. This mindset allows us to innovate quickly, without sacrificing the robustness our partners expect.
In this new landscape, being lean, focused and responsive isn’t a limitation. In live casino, a genre requiring significant on-going operational investment, the providers that thrive are not always the biggest, but the smartest and the ones who can adapt fastest.
The post Scale isn’t everything: Why agility is the new advantage in live casino appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.
CRM for online casinos
Getting to Know Incline Gaming Marketing with Chief Commercial Officer Jo Dennis
Incline Gaming Marketing is redefining how gambling brands scale and succeed worldwide. Founded by industry veteran Peter Laverick, the agency delivers end-to-end digital marketing services across user acquisition, CRM, and creative. In this interview, CCO Jo Dennis explains how Incline acts as an extension of operators’ in-house teams, helping them acquire players, boost retention, and compete globally.
Incline Gaming Marketing. Tells us what we need to know about the business.
Incline Gaming Marketing (Incline) is a full-service digital marketing partner dedicated exclusively to the regulated gambling industry. We’re not just a supplier of campaigns or assets, we run marketing operations end-to-end for our partners, functioning as an extension of their in-house team.
Our expertise spans user acquisition, CRM, and creative, delivered by specialists who’ve worked inside top operators and suppliers. With offices in San Francisco, Philadelphia, and London, we provide market-specific strategies and execution for brands in North America, Europe, Africa, Australia, and beyond.
Founded by industry veteran Peter Laverick in 2020, Incline is part of The Conexus Group alongside Pentasia (recruitment) and Partis (strategy and M&A). Our partners range from household-name operators to ambitious new entrants, all looking for a team that can step in, own the process, and deliver measurable results from day one.
Who are the main players running the business day to day?
Peter Laverick, our CEO and founder, has led marketing at some of the industry’s biggest names, including BetVictor, Aristocrat, and PlayStudios. Chief Commercial Officer Jo Dennis joined through our acquisition of Random Colour Animal in 2024 (RCA was originally founded in 2018) and brings more than 25 years in brand and marketing strategy.
Chief Marketing Officer Oren Langburt has over 15 years’ experience in real-money gaming, including leading marketing at FanDuel. VP Partner Success Haig Sakouyan is a 20+ year industry veteran, ensuring our partnerships deliver beyond marketing.
Talk us through Incline Gaming Marketing’s core service offering.
We operate in three connected disciplines that together form a complete managed marketing service:
- User Acquisition (UA): We plan, execute, and optimise campaigns across Meta, Google, TikTok, Snapchat, Apple, and programmatic networks, managing multi-million-dollar budgets. As an approved Facebook Business Partner, we’ve been rated the most effective media buyer in North America’s online gaming sector, achieving a 99.9% efficiency score.
- Customer Relationship Marketing (CRM): Our CRM specialists handle the full player lifecycle — from onboarding and first-time deposit conversion to long-term retention and reactivation. We combine data-led segmentation with targeted offers and creative to grow lifetime value while controlling bonus spend.
- Creative: We produce more than 1,000 assets per month, from brand identities and websites to broadcast-quality TV spots, slot game creatives, supplier content packs, and conference materials. All creative is performance-driven and integrated into UA and CRM campaigns for maximum impact.
When combined, these services allow us to act as a partner’s complete marketing department – – strategy, execution, and optimisation under one roof.
Which markets are you focused on? Are you pushing into any new regions?
We built our reputation in North America, where we work with leading land-based and online operators across casino, sportsbook, lottery, social gaming, and daily fantasy sports. We now deliver integrated managed services in Canada, the UK, continental Europe, Africa, and Australia, tailoring each approach to local regulations, player behaviours, and market dynamics.
For many partners, this means we handle all marketing in new markets from day one – avoiding the time and cost of building a local team – and then continue as their long-term, embedded marketing function.
Why are your services particularly valuable to operators in the current industry climate?
Player acquisition costs are rising, retention is harder than ever, and regulatory pressure is mounting. Building and managing an in-house team with the full range of skills required – from media buying to lifecycle marketing to creative production – is expensive and slow.
Incline solves that. We provide an instant, proven marketing department with deep gambling expertise, multi-channel capabilities, and global reach. Our managed services model means we don’t just advise, we execute, optimise, and deliver results. Whether launching in a new jurisdiction or scaling in a mature one, we know the levers to pull for sustainable growth.
What can we expect from Incline in the second half of the year?
We’re deepening our presence in Europe, Africa, and Canada while cementing our leadership in North America. Several major launches and brand refresh projects are underway, alongside scaled acquisition and retention campaigns for our long-term partners.
Our focus remains the same — provide operators and suppliers with a high-performing, fully managed marketing function that delivers measurable results faster, and with more certainty, than building it in-house.
The post Getting to Know Incline Gaming Marketing with Chief Commercial Officer Jo Dennis appeared first on Gaming and Gambling Industry in the Americas.
Incline Gaming Marketing is redefining how gambling brands scale and succeed worldwide. Founded by industry veteran Peter Laverick, the agency delivers end-to-end digital marketing services across user acquisition, CRM, and creative. In this interview, CCO Jo Dennis explains how Incline acts as an extension of operators’ in-house teams, helping them acquire players, boost retention, and compete globally.
Incline Gaming Marketing. Tells us what we need to know about the business.
Incline Gaming Marketing (Incline) is a full-service digital marketing partner dedicated exclusively to the regulated gambling industry. We’re not just a supplier of campaigns or assets, we run marketing operations end-to-end for our partners, functioning as an extension of their in-house team.
Our expertise spans user acquisition, CRM, and creative, delivered by specialists who’ve worked inside top operators and suppliers. With offices in San Francisco, Philadelphia, and London, we provide market-specific strategies and execution for brands in North America, Europe, Africa, Australia, and beyond.
Founded by industry veteran Peter Laverick in 2020, Incline is part of The Conexus Group alongside Pentasia (recruitment) and Partis (strategy and M&A). Our partners range from household-name operators to ambitious new entrants, all looking for a team that can step in, own the process, and deliver measurable results from day one.
Who are the main players running the business day to day?
Peter Laverick, our CEO and founder, has led marketing at some of the industry’s biggest names, including BetVictor, Aristocrat, and PlayStudios. Chief Commercial Officer Jo Dennis joined through our acquisition of Random Colour Animal in 2024 (RCA was originally founded in 2018) and brings more than 25 years in brand and marketing strategy.
Chief Marketing Officer Oren Langburt has over 15 years’ experience in real-money gaming, including leading marketing at FanDuel. VP Partner Success Haig Sakouyan is a 20+ year industry veteran, ensuring our partnerships deliver beyond marketing.
Talk us through Incline Gaming Marketing’s core service offering.
We operate in three connected disciplines that together form a complete managed marketing service:
- User Acquisition (UA): We plan, execute, and optimise campaigns across Meta, Google, TikTok, Snapchat, Apple, and programmatic networks, managing multi-million-dollar budgets. As an approved Facebook Business Partner, we’ve been rated the most effective media buyer in North America’s online gaming sector, achieving a 99.9% efficiency score.
- Customer Relationship Marketing (CRM): Our CRM specialists handle the full player lifecycle — from onboarding and first-time deposit conversion to long-term retention and reactivation. We combine data-led segmentation with targeted offers and creative to grow lifetime value while controlling bonus spend.
- Creative: We produce more than 1,000 assets per month, from brand identities and websites to broadcast-quality TV spots, slot game creatives, supplier content packs, and conference materials. All creative is performance-driven and integrated into UA and CRM campaigns for maximum impact.
When combined, these services allow us to act as a partner’s complete marketing department – – strategy, execution, and optimisation under one roof.
Which markets are you focused on? Are you pushing into any new regions?
We built our reputation in North America, where we work with leading land-based and online operators across casino, sportsbook, lottery, social gaming, and daily fantasy sports. We now deliver integrated managed services in Canada, the UK, continental Europe, Africa, and Australia, tailoring each approach to local regulations, player behaviours, and market dynamics.
For many partners, this means we handle all marketing in new markets from day one – avoiding the time and cost of building a local team – and then continue as their long-term, embedded marketing function.
Why are your services particularly valuable to operators in the current industry climate?
Player acquisition costs are rising, retention is harder than ever, and regulatory pressure is mounting. Building and managing an in-house team with the full range of skills required – from media buying to lifecycle marketing to creative production – is expensive and slow.
Incline solves that. We provide an instant, proven marketing department with deep gambling expertise, multi-channel capabilities, and global reach. Our managed services model means we don’t just advise, we execute, optimise, and deliver results. Whether launching in a new jurisdiction or scaling in a mature one, we know the levers to pull for sustainable growth.
What can we expect from Incline in the second half of the year?
We’re deepening our presence in Europe, Africa, and Canada while cementing our leadership in North America. Several major launches and brand refresh projects are underway, alongside scaled acquisition and retention campaigns for our long-term partners.
Our focus remains the same — provide operators and suppliers with a high-performing, fully managed marketing function that delivers measurable results faster, and with more certainty, than building it in-house.
The post Getting to Know Incline Gaming Marketing with Chief Commercial Officer Jo Dennis appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.
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